BOX SCORE (Game 1)

BOX SCORE (Game 2)

Center Valley, PA (January 3, 2010) – Senior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) had a game-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting but the DeSales University men's basketball team saw its 17-game home winning streak come to an end on Sunday evening, falling to Alvernia University, 74-68, in the opening round of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament in Billera Hall.

The Bulldogs (7-4 overall) are now 20-2 in Billera Hall over the last two years, with both losses coming in the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament. Alvernia (8-3 overall), who came into the game shooting just 31.1 percent from three-point land, was not affected by a 20-day lay-off for the Christmas holiday as the Crusaders canned 44.4 percent from downtown, including a 6-for-11 effort (54.5%) in the opening half in the win.

DeSales fought extremely hard, especially in the second half, to take control of this game, going on several runs to get within one possession of tying or taking the lead in the game, but were never able to get over the hump as some costly turnovers and a poor effort from the free throw line (7-for-18, 38.9 percent) spoiled any comeback attempt.

The final run for the Bulldogs came at the 3:45 mark, trailing by seven points for what seemed like the 100th time in the game, senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) converted a lay-up off a nice feed from junior Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) and Hunter followed with another driving lay-up pulling DeSales within three at the 1:50 mark. An Alvernia turnover saw Hunter get sent to the line for two shots, but he missed both freebies, but Braswell was there for the rebound and the lay-in to pull the Bulldogs within one, 67-66, with 1:15 remaining.

After a long possession for Alvernia, Seth Cornell drove the lane and hit a running left-handed lay-up with 37 ticks left to push the Crusaders back up three. Hunter missed a lay-up on the other end and Brian Nerney was quickly fouled and after missing the first free throw, he stepped into the lane early on his second FT miss giving DSU the ball back, down three. Braswell was fouled on the ensuing drive into the lane and calmly sank both free throws with 20 seconds left.

After a DSU timeout, Cornell dribbled the length of the court before being fouled just above the three-point line sending him to the charity stripe for two shots, the first of which he missed, giving DSU a chance to tie with a two and to win the game with a three.

Tad Gillis had other ideas though.

Alvernia had no players on the line for the free throws and it seemed as though they were just going to pick up defensively just over half court but Gillis sneakily streaked down the court and stole the inbounds pass. The Bulldogs did not foul Gillis in the left corner and he found Nick Rivera all alone as Rivera drove the lane for a dunk and all of a sudden Alvernia was up four with 13 seconds left as two Cornell free throws with two seconds left after a missed three from Hunter provided the final score.

Alvernia jumped out of the gates as some terrific three-point shooting from some unexpected long range shooters helped the Crusaders out to a 17-6 lead. Overall, AU made its first seven shots before one finally rimmed out at the 15:04 mark, ironically by its best shooter entering the game, senior Nick Rivera.

A three by sophomore Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) cut the lead down to six points, 17-11, but consecutive three's from Zach Fenstermacher and Nerney pushed the lead up to 12 points, 25-13, at the 12:04 mark. Entering the game, Fenstermacher and Nerney had combined for one made three thru the first 10 games, and already thru the first eight minutes of the game, they had made three of them.

DSU chipped away and got within five, 27-22, at the 8:32 mark but a quick 7-0 run pushed the lead back up to 12 points as Alvernia held off anymore first-half Bulldog rallies to take a 39-30 lead into the locker room. Alvernia shot 6-for-11 from outside the arc in the opening half as compared to just 1-for-7 for the Bulldogs. DSU was just 3-for-9 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes.

DeSales charged out of the gates in the second half, going on a 7-0 run over the first two minutes, but a turnover led to a three from Stefan Thompson, just his second triple of the season, and a Nerney dunk on a fast break pushed the lead back to seven with 14:33 left.

The lead grew to 10 points, 55-45, at the 12:25 mark, when the Bulldogs again mounted a rally. Hunter scored four quick points, and Braswell canned a three-pointer, getting DSU within three. After a steal, Hunter went to the line for two shots. He missed the second one but senior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) was there for the rebound and DeSales eventually worked the ball around to senior Zwetolitz for an open three-pointer for the lead but the shot hit back iron and next thing you know, Alvernia was back up seven points, 63-56, after a quick 8-3 spurt.

A lay-up from Malatesta and another from sophomore Jamey Bercier (Stroudsburg, PA/Notre Dame) pulled DeSales within three once again and with possession of the ball, but another poorly timed turnover led to four quick points from the Crusaders and once again the scoreboard saw the visitor's leading by seven, with 3:45 to go, setting up the final stages of the game.

The All-American Braswell was terrific in the loss, totaling a game-high 26 points on a very efficient 10-of-16 shooting, while also pulling down nine rebounds and adding three assists and three steals. Hunter added 12 points, all in the second-half, and had seven assists and Malatesta finished with eight points. The Bulldog bench, who had scored 71 points in the win over Centenary just five days ago, had just 11 points on Sunday.

Gillis was one of many stars for the Crusaders as he finished with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists, and five steals, none bigger than the one he made sealing the win and perhaps taking the win away from DeSales with 16 seconds left. Rivera added 16 points, Nerney had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Cornell totaled 15 points and five assists.

In the other opening round game, Widener University defeated Carnegie Mellon University, 67-60, thanks to a big second-half that saw the Pride out-score the Tartans, 35-25. Jack Brennan led Widener with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Jack Anderson was terrific in the loss for the Tartans with 28 points and seven rebounds.

Alvernia takes on Carnegie Mellon on Monday evening beginning at 6:00 pm, while the Bulldogs will face Widener at 8:00 pm in the fourth game of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament. Both games can be followed via LIVE Stats tomorrow, while the DeSales/Widener game will also feature LIVE Audio. Links will be available on the DSU website on Monday night.