Center Valley, PA (December 9, 2017) - Junior Luke Connaghan (Warrington, PA) recorded his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds leading the DeSales University men's basketball team to its seventh straight win, 71-67, over local rival Muhlenberg College in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.

Connaghan finished with a game-high 17 points and also added four assists to his stat line shooting 7-for-10 from the field.  Sophomore Tracy Simsick (Harleysville, PA) finished with 15 points, including three treys, and sophomore Kweku Dawson-Amoah (Stewartsville, NJ) added 14 points and seven boards in the win.  Sophomore Julian Wing (Ridley Park, PA) also played well off the bench with eight points, all in the second-half, and four rebounds.

Muhlenberg (2-7) got double digits from four players including Jeanlee Baez (13 points), Brendan Hughes (12 points), Matt Gnias (11 points), and Michael Morreale (10 points).

This game featured six ties and 17 lead changes throughout with DeSales leading or most of the half but never by more than six points and clung to a 36-31 advantage at the break after two freebies from Dawon-Amoah with 44 seconds left.  DSU shot 50.0 percent from the field in the opening half and the Mules were cold from deep, hitting just 4-for-15.

The second-half was more of the same as both teams were locked in a back-and-forth battle.  The lead changed hand 10 times between the 16-minute and 10-minute marks until the Bulldogs used a mini 9-2 run to grab a 58-52 lead with 5:01 to go.  Wing scored five points during the spurt to lead the rally.

The lead remained a two-possession game (69-64) after two free throws from Connaghan with 35 seconds left before the Mules got a three from Gnias with 29 ticks left to pull within two.  Senior James Smith (Hillsborough, NJ) was called for a push-off on the ensuing advancement up the court giving Muhlenberg possession with 20 seconds left as MC called timeout.

Out of the timeout, Baez got the ball in the post and after making a move to his left was caught in mid-air and threw an errant pass right to Smith in the far corner and Smith was fouled with 2.1 seconds left.  He calmly knocked down both charity tosses to make it a four-point game and ice the win for the Bulldogs.

DSU finished the game shooting 50.9 percent and hit 11-for-14 (78.6%) from the foul line.  Muhlenberg shot much better from three (6-for-14) in the second-half to stay in the game.  DSU made the most of eight offensive rebounds, scoring 12 second-chance points as compared to just two for the Mules.

Connaghan earns A.B.E Windows and Doors Player of the Game honors with his first double-double of the season.

The Bulldogs are now off for final exams this week and will not return to the court until Friday, December 29th when they host Gettysburg College in the first game of the Al Senavitis Holiday Tournament.