Bulldogs Dominate Overtime in 68-58 Win over Misericordia

Senior Matt Zwetolitz scored all four of his points in overtime on Saturday.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (January 24, 2009) – DeSales University and Misericordia University needed overtime on Saturday afternoon and the Bulldogs dominated the extra five minutes out-scoring the Cougars, 14-4, to record a 68-58 win in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.

The win moves DSU to 15-2 overall and 8-1 in the Freedom Conference, while the Cougars fall to 8-9 overall and 2-6 in the Freedom. The Bulldogs went 3-for-4 from the field in the extra period, while MU converted just 1-of-7 attempts in overtime. For the game DSU shot 47.4 percent and Misericordia just 35.5 percent.

With the game tied at 52 with 22 seconds left junior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) hit a driving lay-up to push DSU ahead, 54-52, with seven seconds left. MU's Marcus Little drove the length of the court but had the ball knocked out of bounds with 1.1 ticks left. After consecutive timeouts, Vinny Baumunk was fouled with 0.4 seconds left and impressively knocked down both free throws to tie the game at 54, sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime period, Braswell found fellow junior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) a minute and a half into the extra session for a lay-up and senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) hit a big three-pointer on the next possession to give the Bulldogs a 59-54 advantage.

Two free throws from senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) were followed by one charity toss from sophomore Nicholas Rossignoli (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic) and the Bulldogs were up eight with 1:54 to go before Misericordia got on the scoreboard with one free throw at the 1:42 mark. Lapinski added a lay-up on a nice feed from Braswell and Zwetolitz another free throw as DeSales went up 11 points with just under a minute left sealing the conference victory.

A tight game the entire way featuring 12 lead changes and four ties saw DSU leading by six (28-22) at the break after it shot 54.2 percent in the opening half. A three-point play from Lapinski to start the second half put the hosts up nine (31-22) before the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 34-33, at the 15:21 mark.

The game was back and forth the rest of the way. DSU took a four-point lead on two straight buckets from Braswell at the 10:29 mark but Misericordia fought right back with five straight points to regain a one-point lead. Trailing by one, 48-47, at the 5:26 mark, sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) hit a short jumper and Braswell followed with a lay-up on a nice feed in transition from Hunter to give DSU a 51-48 lead setting up the final stages of the game.

Lapinski led the way for the Bulldogs with a game-high 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Braswell recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals and Hunter had eight points and four assists.

Dom Del Prete had a team-high 19 points and pulled down six boards, while Robbie Johnson also reached double figures with 12 points in the loss.

DeSales returns to action on Wednesday, January 28^th when they travel to Manhattanville College for another Freedom Conference game beginning at 8:00 pm.

Print Friendly Version