Purchase, NY (February 16, 2016) – Senior Cody Deal scored a team-high 21 points, all in the second-half, and hit a fall away jumper with six seconds left giving the DeSales University men's basketball team a 77-75 win over Manhattanville College in MAC Freedom action on Tuesday evening.
 
The win keeps the Bulldogs (18-6, 10-3 MAC Freedom) in sole possession of first place entering the final game of the regular season.  DSU has clinched at least one home playoff game and can lock up the #1 seed for the postseason tournament with a win at Eastern on Saturday.
 
Deal shot 9-for-13 in the second-half on Tuesday scoring all 21 of his points to lead the way.  Sophomore Aaron Burton recorded his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds and junior Brian Laird tossed in 11 points in the win.
 
Anthony Maestre led the Valiants (13-11, 6-7 MAC Freedom) with 18 points, Willie Britton added 16 points, and Alex Tuci finished with 13 points in the loss.
 
The first-half featured six lead changes and two ties but saw MVC use a 7-0 run midway thru the half to take a 25-18 lead.  The Valiants led by as many as 11 points with 3:04 to go before taking a 41-33 lead into the locker rooms.
 
DeSales stormed out of the gates to start the second-half as Deal scored eight straight points and Laird hit a three giving DSU a 44-43 lead 3:50 into the second-half.  The Bulldogs pushed their advantage to as many as four points (53-49) with 13:22 left before an 8-0 Valiant run gave the hosts a four-point lead (57-53) at the 11:14 mark.
 
It was a six-point MVC advantage with 6:58 left with when Deal went to work hitting a deep three and a short jumper as part of a 7-0 run pushing the Bulldogs up one point (65-64) with 5:39 remaining.
 
The two teams traded hoops over the next few minutes as DeSales led by four with 1:19 on the clock.  A lay-up from Tuci trimmed the advantage to two points and Slanger missed the front end of a 1-and-1 giving the Valiants a chance to tie and Tuci was up to the task with another lay-up tying the score at 75 with 40 seconds left.
 
DSU advanced the ball to half court and called timeout.  Out of the timeout Deal got the ball in the post on the right block, stepped back and hit a fall away jumper from just inside the three-point line with six ticks left giving the Bulldogs a 77-75 lead.
 
Manhattanville advanced the ball to half court and called timeout with 3.3 seconds left.  After multiple timeouts Maestre inbounded the ball, and got a pass back at the top of the key, quickly turned the corner, and had a good look at a lay-up but his attempt was short and bounced off the front rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
The Bulldogs torched the nets in the second half hitting 60.7 percent from the field and going 5-for-7 from outside the arc.  DSU shot 50.8 percent for the game and dominated the glass, out-rebounding MVC 39-30.
 
Deal earns A.B.E. Doors and Windows Player of the Game honors with his 21-point effort and game-winning jumper.
 
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they travel to Eastern University for the final regular season MAC Freedom game beginning at 3:00 pm.