Glenside, PA (January 6, 2016) – The DeSales University men's basketball team hit eight three-pointers in the first-half closing the half on a 23-7 run and held off a furious second-half rally in a 79-77 win over Arcadia University in non-conference action on Saturday evening.
 
Senior Cody Deal finished with a team-high 15 points to lead a balanced attack that saw 10 players reach the scoring column.  Junior Kuity Slanger continued his outstanding play coming just three assists shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, and junior Ryan Callahan added 10 points.
 
Arcadia (10-3) got a game-high 19 points from Evan Slone, 12 points from Kyle Reilly, 11 points from Josh Scott, and 10 points from Alex Cohen in the loss.
 
The Bulldogs (9-4) broke open a close game at the 7:55 mark of the first-half when Deal started a half-ending 23-7 run with a three-pointer giving DSU a commanding 45-28 lead at the break.  Deal led the charge with all three of his 3's during the spurt.
 
The Knights slowly chipped away at the lead at the start of the second-half and used a 7-0 run to get within seven (55-48) at the 10:08 mark.  DSU countered with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 68-55 lead with 5:30 remaining.
 
Arcadia refused to go away, trailing by 10 with 4:22 to go used a 9-0 run after three straight turnovers by the Bulldogs to pull within one point (69-68) with 3:04 left to play.
 
Slanger quieted the spurt with a driving lay-up but the Knights answered with a short jumper at the 2:12 mark.  Two free throws from Deal reclaimed a three-point edge as the two teams traded baskets over the next four possessions with Slanger giving DSU a 77-74 lead with 26 ticks left.
 
On the ensuing possession AU was off the mark on back-to-back three-pointers as sophomore Aaron Burton grabbed the rebound and hit 2-of-2 from the charity stripe making it a five point game with four seconds left before Arcadia hit a three at the buzzer to provide the final marin.
 
DSU finished the game shooting 49.0 percent from the field and hit 9-for-17 (52.9%) from outside the arc.
 
Slanger earns A.B.E. Doors and Windows Player of the Game honors just missing a triple-double for the second time in the last three games.
 
The Bulldogs are back in action a week from today when they host King's College in a MAC Freedom matchup in Billera Hall beginning at 8:00 pm.