Dallas, PA (February 4, 2015) – Sophomore Ryan Callahan scored a game-high 17 points leading a 28-point effort from the Bulldogs bench en route to their sixth straight win, 67-63, over Misericordia University in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday evening at the Anderson Center.
 
The win gives DeSales (15-5, 7-2 Freedom) the season sweep over Misericordia (15-5, 7-2 Freedom) and forges a three-way tie in the Freedom Conference standings with Delaware Valley College at 7-2 with five games left in the regular season.  DSU travels to the Aggies on Saturday.
 
Callahan was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and hit 5-for-6 from the free throw line to tally his 17 points.  Sophomore Brian Laird (12 points) and senior Travis Bryan (11 points) also reached double digits.  Senior Derek Dalition was terrific off the bench scoring six points and grabbing a career-high nine rebounds.
 
The Cougars had four players in double digits including Steve Ware (15 points), Joe Busacca (13 points), Erik Kerns (12 points), and Michael Brunson (11 points).  Kerns finished with a double-double pulling down a game-high 10 boards.
 
The first-half was back and forth the entire way featuring six ties and seven lead changes.  The largest lead for either team was four points, twice by Misericordia, but DeSales finished the half on a 7-0 run, taking a 34-31 lead into the locker room on a running jumper from Laird as time expired.
 
Both teams shot well in the opening half with the Bulldogs hitting 12-of-24 (50 percent) from the field and MU canning 14-for-30 (46.7 percent). 
 
The Cougars scored the first four points of the half to take a one-point lead and had control early in the half opening up a five-point lead and continued to lead by four (45-41) when DeSales took over.
 
A 13-0 run including six straight points from Callahan and a three-point play from Bryan over the next 5:15 gave either team its largest lead of the game (54-45) with 9:16 remaining.
 
It remained an eight-point game with 4:20 to go before back-to-back three's from MU's Jesse Urich and Griffin Spounaugle cut the margin down to two (61-59) with 2:36 on the clock.
 
Out of a timeout Laird answered the quick spurt by Misericordia with a short pull-up jumper in the lane but Ware drew a foul on the other end and hit both charity tosses to make it a two-point game (63-61) with 1:18 to go.
 
Out of another timeout, a Bulldog turnover saw the Cougars out on the break and seemingly reading to finish in transition but Bryan hustled down the court and out of nowhere blocked both attempts, grabbing the rebound, and calmly sank two free throws with 32 seconds left giving DeSales a 65-61 lead with 32 seconds left.
 
MU got a put-back lay-up on the ensuing possession from Kerns to again cut the margin down to two points and was sent to the line for one free throw.
 
The free throw was missed and Misericordia jumped on the loose ball rebound and called timeout with 18.1 seconds remaining.  MU had three attempts at tying the game but two were short and a third was blocked again by Bryan, and he again grabbed the rebound and was fouled as time expired.
 
The refs met and put four tenths of a second on the clock but Bryan was again up to the task hitting both free throws giving the Bulldogs a huge road win.
 
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 24-for-48 (50 percent) from the field and was again outstanding from the free throw line hitting 14-for-16 (85.7 percent).  Misericordia shot just 33.3 percent in the second-half and 39.4 percent for the game.  Both teams had 34 rebounds.
 
DeSales is right back on the road on Saturday with another showdown with first place in the Freedom Conference standings on the line, traveling to Delaware Valley College with tip set for 3:00 pm.