Zanneo, Defense Lead DeSales past Manhattanville, 63-59

Freshman Bob Zanneo is 6-for-6 from three-point land in his last two games.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (January 12, 2009) – Freshman Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) bettered his season-high for the second straight game pouring in 15 points and the DeSales University men's basketball team used a strong defensive effort to top Manhattanville College, 63-59, on Monday evening in a Freedom Conference game.

The Bulldogs (12-1, 5-0 Freedom) and the Valiants (8-5, 4-2 Freedom) entered the game ranked #1 and #2 in the Freedom Conference in scoring defense, so everyone in attendance knew this was gonna be a defensive battle from the very beginning and it certainly turned out that way.

Zanneo, who has not missed a shot from the field in the last two games (10-for-10), sparked an early run off the bench in the first half as he entered the game with the game tied at six. He immediately hit a three, nailed a pull-up jumper on the next possession and canned another three and baseline jumper in his six minutes of action in the opening half. The Bulldogs led by nine (19-10) following his second three-pointer but the Valiants chipped away at the lead and eventually took control of the scoreboard using a 12-4 run over the final 7:45 of the half to enjoy a 30-28 lead as both teams talked it over in the locker room.

The start of the second half was a defensive clinic as each team went scoreless for the first four minutes and twenty seconds before senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) hit a lay-up to tie the game at 30. DSU continued to turn up the defensive dial as they held MVille without a point for the final 3:46 of the first half and for the first 6:04 of the second half before a jumper from Trevoy Pointer broke the drought.

Leading by two, 34-32, after the Pointer jumper, DSU pulled away using an 8-0 run highlighted by guess who…that's right Zanneo, as his triple off the bench was followed with two more free throws (after he was fouled on a three-point attempt) to start the run. Senior Mike Geary (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown), who was also terrific off the bench, added a sweet tip-in lay-up and Braswell concluded the run with one free throw to put DeSales up 44-34 with 9:46 left to play.

The lead swelled to 15 points four minutes later when senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and Braswell hit back-to-back three-pointers making it a 54-39 game and the Bulldogs seemed on their way to an easy win.

Not so fast said Manhattanville as they turned up its defensive intensity following the Braswell triple and held the Bulldogs to just two points over the next four minutes cutting the lead down to eight points with 1:11 to go. Two free throws from Braswell made it a 10-point game, but one free throw from DeVon Barnett was followed by back-to-back three-pointers sandwiched between two missed freebies by the Bulldogs and all of a sudden we had ourselves a three-point game with 38 ticks left.

Sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) was fouled with 33 seconds left and he hit both free throws, but a lay-up from Angelo Laroche cut the deficit back down to three points before Hunter was fouled again with 19 seconds left. One free throw this time made it a four-point game and Laroche found Mike Horgan for a lay-up with eight seconds left cutting it to a two-point game. Hunter was once again fouled with seven seconds left; he calmly made both free throws to make it a four-point game and a desperation triple attempt hit the back iron as time expired to end the game.

No one joined Zanneo in the double digit scoring column for the Bulldogs, but Hunter finished with nine points and a season-high eight boards in the win. Braswell had eight points and junior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) came off the bench to score five points, grab seven rebounds and dish out four assists in the win.

Pointer finished with a game-high 17 of the bench for the Valiants and Laroche totaled 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss for Manhattanville.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Wednesday when they take to the road to face Delaware Valley College in another Freedom Conference battle beginning at 8:00 pm.

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