Madison, NJ (February 14, 2015) – The DeSales University men's basketball team shot just 33.9 percent from the field falling to FDU-Florham, 70-58, in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon at the Ferguson Recreation Center.
 
The Bulldogs (16-7, 8-4 Freedom) had control of this game thru the first 13 minutes leading the entire start and holding a 24-17 advantage after a three from freshman Connor Jones with 6:58 left in the opening half.
 
DeSales then went cold from the field missing its last 10 shots from the field in the opening half and committing five of its seven first-half turnovers over the final 6:58 as Florham (2-21, 1-11 Freedom) finished the half on a 13-0 run to take a 30-24 lead.
 
Slanger opened the second-half with a three-point play to cut the deficit in half but FDU scored the next 11 points to take a 14-point lead (41-27) early in the second-half.  The Devils lead peaked at 16 points (50-34) with 12:27 to go when DeSales mounted a rally.
 
A lay-up from senior Derek Dalition was followed by eight straight free throws from the Bulldogs as DSU made a conscious effort to get into the lane and to the hoop cutting the deficit down to seven points (51-44) with 9:49 left to play.
 
It was an eight point game (54-46) with 8:05 left when sophomore Ryan Callahan hit two free throws, had a gorgeous tip-in on the next possession, and sophomore Kuity Slanger hit two more free throws to cut the margin down to two points (54-52) with 6:54 remaining.
 
FDU however took control from there scoring nine straight points as the Bulldogs went away from the paint and missed four straight three's and trailed by 10 points with just over two minutes to go.
 
A lay-up from Callahan and one free throw from Slanger cut it down to a seven-point game with 1:51 to go but the Devils hit 7-of-9 from the charity stripe down the stretch.
 
Junior Cody Deal led Bulldogs with 15 points, but hit just 1-for-8 from three-point land.  Slanger finished with 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.  Callahan came off the bench to score 12 points and grab a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Steve Herdman led the Devils with 21 points and five assists, Donte Ali was outstanding finishing with a double-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six steals, and Tymiak Hawkins added 15 points in the win.
 
Despite the loss, DeSales remains in a tie for second-place with Delaware Valley College and one game behind Misericordia University as both the Aggies and Cougars also lost on Saturday.  King's College moves into fourth place, one game behind DVC and the Bulldogs with two games left to play.
 
The Bulldogs still control its own destiny in the quest for at least one home playoff game, needing just to win its remaining two games to clinch the #2 seed.  DSU can still earn the #1 seed with two wins and one Misericordia loss.
 
DSU returns to action on Tuesday when they host Manhattanville College in Billera Hall beginning at 8:00 pm.