Center Valley, PA (January 31, 2015) – Freshman
Aaron Burton scored a game and season-high 24 points leading the DeSales University men's basketball team to its fifth straight, 78-57, over King's College in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.
Burton shot 9-for-12 from the field and pulled down six boards in the win. Junior
Cody Deal added 21 points, hitting three 3's, and sophomore
Kuity Slanger added 11 points and seven assists. Sophomore
Brian Laird had a career-high seven assists for the Bulldogs (14-5, 6-2 Freedom).
King's (10-9, 3-5 Freedom) saw three players reach double digits including
John Fazzini with 17 points,
Chris Fazzini with 13 points, and
Dan Rutecki added 12 points for the Monarchs.
DSU never trailed and saw the score tied just twice over the first 1:16 of the game as the Bulldogs led for the final 37 minutes of the game in the win. After the score was tied at four early, a 7-0 run gave DSU an 11-4 lead and grew to as many as 13 points (31-18) in the first-half before a three from senior
Derek Daliltion with three ticks left in the half gave the Bulldogs a 36-24 halftime lead.
DeSales increased its lead to 15 points early in the second-half before King's chipped away at the advantage and pulled to within seven (51-44) after a short 7-1 run but six straight points from DSU, including four from Slanger, pushed the lead back up to 13 points as the Bulldogs cruised the rest of the way before posting the final 21-point tally.
The Bulldogs continued their hot shooting hitting 54.3 percent from the field and were an astonishing 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from three-point land breaking the team record for three-point percentage in a game previously set at 66.7 percent. DSU also had 22 assists on its 25 baskets, a season-high for assists, and out-rebounded King's, 36-31.
King's shot just 34.8 percent from the field, opening the game hitting just 30.8 percent in the opening half.
DeSales returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to Misericordia University for a match-up with the first place Cougars beginning at 8:00 pm.
