BOX SCORE

Wayne, NJ (March 5, 2010) – Senior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) and junior Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) combined for 35 points, 20 rebounds, eight assists and three steals leading the DeSales University men's basketball team past Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 72-64, in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday evening in the WPU Rec Center.

The Bulldogs (23-5 overall) advance to play Albertus Magnus who defeated host William Paterson University in the second game on a dramatic half court buzzer beater to also advance to the second round. Game time on Saturday will be 7:00 pm. For those unable to attend you will be able to follow along once again via LIVE Stats and LIVE Video.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle that saw DSU take as much as a seven-point lead (27-20) with 4:45 left before the Engineers (22-5 overall) battled back to get within three at the break (33-30). Noel Hollingsworth led the way with 12 points for MIT, while senior Rob Schubach (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) paced the Bulldogs with eight.

In the second half DeSales took control of the game opening up a nine-point lead at the 16:19 mark (42-33) but MIT refused to go away. The Engineers got within four points (46-42) before Hunter and sophomore Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) hit back-to-back three-pointers to give DSU its largest lead of the game, 10 points, at the 10:47 mark.

Still leading by 10 at the 9:22 mark, DeSales went cold from the field and MIT began to chip away at the lead. The Bulldogs went scoreless over the next five minutes as the Engineers eventually tied the game at 54 on a free from throw from Mitchell Kates.

Braswell broke the scoring drought with a pull-up jumper in the lane but four straight points by Kates gave MIT its first lead of the second half, 59-58, with 2:47 left to play. Braswell again responded with a short jumper but a three-pointer from the top of the key from Will Tashman made it a 62-60 game with 1:55 remaining.

Hunter missed a free throw on the other end, but sophomore Jamey Bercier (Stroudsburg, PA/Notre Dame) tapped the ball out to Hunter, one of the undersized Bulldogs 19 offensive rebounds in the game, and Hunter found Bercier wide open underneath the basket and Bercier laid the ball in to tie the score at 62 with 1:22 left. Both teams had shots to take the lead and win the game including Braswell, whose off-balance reverse lay-up with 2 seconds left clipped the front iron but fell off as time expired and the game went into overtime.

It was all Bulldogs in the overtime period as DSU held MIT to just two points (both on free throws) as the Engineers went 0-for-8 from the field in the extra session. Hunter started the scoring with a reverse lay-up on a nice feed from Braswell in transition. Then with DeSales leading, 65-63, and 2:23 on the clock Braswell got the ball at the top of the key with about five ticks on the shot clock, pulled up for three and hit nothing but net, clinching the win for the Bulldogs as Hunter and Bercier added buckets over the final two minutes to provide the final margin.

Braswell recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Hunter was outstanding with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and no turnovers in the win. Schubach and Zanneo each had eight points as all 10 Bulldogs who appeared in the game scored points to contribute to the win. DSU enjoyed a healthy 45-37 advantage on the glass against a much taller Engineer squad who came into the game out-rebounding opponents by more than seven boards per game.

Tashman finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, Hollingsworth had 18 points and seven boards, and Kates finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss.