BOX SCORE

Purchase, NY (February 3, 2010) – Senior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half leading the DeSales University men's basketball team to a hard-fought and important 76-67 win over Manhattanville College to sweep the season series in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday evening.

The win gives the Bulldogs (15-5, 8-1 Freedom) a two-game lead in the Freedom Conference over both King's College and Eastern University after the Eagles defeated the Monarchs on Wednesday evening. The loss drops Manhattanville to 10-10 overall and 4-5 in the Freedom.

The first half was an extremely tight affair that featured six ties and seven lead changes. DeSales took the largest lead of the half (23-17) at the 8:23 mark on consecutive three-pointers from junior Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus). Manhattanville quickly responded with six straight points of its own to tie the score at 23 and after another short jumper from Hunter at the 1:15 mark of the half, the score was tied at 29 as both teams headed for the locker room.

Hunter had a game-high 11 points in the first half, hitting three treys, while senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) added seven points for the Bulldogs who shot 52.4 percent from the field in the opening half. MC, on the other hand, converted just 37.0 percent from the field but had just five turnovers over the first twenty minutes.

The Valiants came out firing in the second half scoring the first six points of the half to take a 35-29 lead. A lay-up from Braswell ended the run and a three-pointer from Zwetolitz on a terrific feed from Braswell started an 8-0 run that gave DeSales a 42-37 advantage with 14:19 left to play.

A three-pointer from Angelo Laroche pulled MC within one, 44-43, as the two teams went back and forth over the next three minutes with DeSales still clinging to a one-point lead. Braswell took control over the next two possessions hitting an acrobatic lay-up in the lane to push the lead to three and followed that with a three-pointer from the left corner giving the Bulldogs a 57-51 advantage with 8:40 to go.

After two free throws from Vargas, senior Rob Schubach (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) hit a three on the other end and sophomore Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) hit a tough three just one minute later from the corner to give DSU a 63-53 lead with 6:37 left.

A jumper from Braswell and a lay-up from freshman Brett Moyer (Souderton, PA/Christopher Dock) pushed the lead to 12 with 4:25 remaining before the Valiants made one last charge using a lightning quick 7-0 run to get within five points at the 3:17 mark. Two big defensive stops by the Bulldogs saw the freshman Moyer step to the line for a one-and-one with 1:11 to go and he knocked down both freebies as DeSales went 9-for-12 over the final 71 seconds to ice the road win.

Braswell finished with 22 points on an efficient 7-of-12 from the field and added four rebounds and five assists. Hunter and Zwetolitz each tallied 13 points to round out the double digit scoring. Schubach came off the bench to score nine points and Moyer pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Senior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) finished with six points and five assists in the win.

Laroche and Trevoy Pointer each had a team-high 19 points, while Jay Ferriere finished with 12 points and had five assists.

The Bulldogs return home and to Freedom Conference play on Saturday, when they host Delaware Valley College in another very important Freedom Conference game beginning at 3:00 pm. For those unable to attend you will be able to follow the game's progress online via LIVE Stats and Audio.