Men's Basketball 1/15/2009 12:51:07 AM BJ Spigelmyer - DeSales SID

Bulldogs Suffer First Freedom Loss at Delaware Valley, 72-70

Junior Darnell Braswell recorded his second double-double of the season at Delaware Valley.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Doylestown, PA (January 14, 2009) – The DeSales University men's basketball team dropped its first Freedom Conference game of the season falling to Delaware Valley College, 72-70, at James Work Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

The loss ends a 12-game winning streak over the Aggies and snaps the school-record seven-game winning streak DSU had on the road. The Bulldogs are now 12-2 overall and 5-1 in the Freedom, while the Aggies drop to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the Freedom.

DVC opened the game strong leading the entire first half after taking a 6-0 lead. DSU kept chipping away at the first half deficit and when a three-pointer from junior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) went in with six seconds left, the Bulldogs had cut the margin down to three, 40-37, at the break.

DeSales started the second half strong using a 7-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 44-42. The next 14 minutes of the second half was a see-saw battle that saw nine ties and five lead changes take place. Finally after the dust had settled the game was deadlocked at 67 with 2:18 to go.

DVC's Chris Mayo was fouled and knocked down 1-of-2 charity tosses to give the Aggies a one-point lead and the Bulldogs were called for a charge deep in the lane on the next possession. A missed trey by Delaware Valley saw DSU get out on the break but a contested lay-up in transition by sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) rolled off the rim and the Aggies still led by one with 1:18 to play.

After a long possession, James Jones was fouled just a few seconds left on the shot clock and went to the line for two shots, both of which he made giving the hosts a three-point advantage with 45 ticks left. Another charge deep in the lane turned the ball back over to the Aggies but the Bulldogs used a full court press to tie up a DVC ball-handler, or so it seemed, before another official intervened from cross court and awarded the Aggies a 30-second timeout instead.

Following the timeout, DVC turned the ball over and after two consecutive misses by Braswell, Hunter grabbed the second offensive rebound and laid the ball in with eight seconds left making the score, 70-69. Forced to foul, Jason Goldheimer was sent to the line where he canned both freebies. Following the free throws and out of a timeout, DVC decided to foul the Bulldogs rather than let them get off a potential tying three-pointer. Senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) made the first and intentionally missed the second as Braswell leapt high in the air to try and tap home the rebound but his attempt glanced off the rim as the buzzer sounded with a two-point Aggie win.

DSU finished the game shooting 45.9 percent from the field but were just 5-of-17 from three-point land and converted just 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs owned the boards, out-rebounding the Aggies, 45-29, but lost the turnover battle, coughing up the ball 18 times as compared to just nine for Delaware Valley.

Braswell finished his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Hunter totaled 13 points and senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) added 10 points and nine boards. Freshman Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) continued his hot shooting with eight points and three assists off the bench.

DVC had five players reach double figures including Jason Seipt with 17 points. Cam Prince added 13 tallies off the bench and Mayo finished with 12 points. Jones and Goldheimer each added 10 markers in the win.

The Bulldogs won't return to action until Monday, January 19^th when they travel to Wilkes University for another Freedom Conference game beginning at 7:00 pm.

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