Washington, DC (December 9, 2009) – Senior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) and junior Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) each tallied 16 points but it was not enough as the 21st ranked DeSales University men's basketball team fell at Catholic University, 70-66, in a non-conference game at the DuFour Center on Wednesday evening.

The Bulldogs (5-3 overall) struggled thru a poor shooting first half, converting just 34.5 percent (10-for-29), but trailed by just two points at the break (27-25) after Braswell and Hunter finished the half with five straight points.

A lay-up from Hunter and another lay-up from sophomore Jamey Bercier (Stroudsburg, PA/Notre Dame) gave DSU a 29-27 lead to start the second stanza and DSU continued to lead by one point (33-32) at the 14:32 mark when the Bulldogs once again went cold from the field and the Cardinals (5-3 overall) took advantage going on an 11-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 43-33 lead with 8:41 to go.

During the run DeSales was 0-for-6 from the field and committed three of its nine turnovers for the game. DSU fought hard over the next four minutes cutting the lead to seven points several different times but were never able to get much closer until the final minute when the Bulldogs canned three treys to post the final four-point margin.

Hunter tallied his 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 3-of-8 from downtown, while Braswell was just 6-of-21 from the field, 1-for-9 from three-point land. Braswell also grabbed a game-high tying eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Senior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulled down five boards, four off the offensive glass.

Senior Charles Princiotto (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills), sophomore Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge), and freshman Brett Moyer (Souderton, PA/Christopher Dock) each had five points off the bench.

Catholic was led by Jason Banzhaf with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Brian Baker (15 points) and Clay Penecale (9 points) combined to shoot 6-for-10 from outside the arc.

DSU returns to action on Saturday, December 12th when they host St. John Fisher College in another non-conference game. Tip is set for 3:00 pm. For those unable to attend you can follow the game's progress online via LIVE Stats or LIVE Audio.