Center Valley, PA (January 2, 2011) – Sophomore Brett Moyer recorded his third double-double and senior Brian Hunter notched his first career double-double helping the DeSales University men's basketball team erase an eight-point deficit mid-way thru the second half for an 82-71 win over NY City Tech in the opening game of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament on Sunday night.
The Bulldogs (7-3 overall) will take on Albright College, a 73-69 winner over Ursinus in the other opening day game, in the championship game of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament on Monday night beginning at 7:00 pm in Billera Hall. Ursinus takes on NY City Tech (0-8 overall) in the consolation game beginning at 5:00 pm.
Moyer finished with a career-high 23 points and pulled down a career-high tying 12 rebounds in the win. Hunter totaled 14 points and dished out 10 assists for the second time in the last three games to notch his first career double-double. Sophomore Brian Kerwin added a career-high 20 points and freshman Paul Pammer was tremendous, particularly on the defensive end, while also adding a season-high 10 points on the offensive end.
Nathaniel Young led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 25 points, while Fitzgerald Charles finished with a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds.
The first half saw five ties and five lead changes as the two squads jockeyed back-and-forth for control of the game. DSU led by four, 18-14, before a 10-2 City Tech run gave the visitor's a 24-20 lead with 8:38 left. DSU chipped away and took the lead at the four minute mark on a three from Kerwin. The Bulldogs led by five with 55 seconds left before a late jumper from Manfred Cadet provided the 36-33 halftime score.
Hunter had a team-high eight for the Bulldogs, while Young led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 15 points at the break.
DeSales continued to lead by two at the 13:40 mark, but a 11-1 run over the next three minutes gave City Tech a 55-47 lead with 10:45 left to play.
Kerwin stopped the scoring drought with a three-pointer as DeSales began to chip away. Another triple from Kerwin at the 6:50 mark ignited an 8-0 run that turned a five-point deficit into a three-point lead (63-60) with 6:02 to go capped by a three-point play from Pammer in transition.
After a bucket from Donald Rodriguez made it a one-point game, DSU put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run started by four free throws from Moyer and finished with a three-pointer from Pammer and a three-point play from junior Bob Zanneo at the 2:46 mark giving the Bulldogs a 73-62 lead.
In addition to Pammer's 10 points, he held Young in check in the second half, holding him to just 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting after he tallied 15 markers on 5-of-9 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. DSU also did a much better job rebounding in the second half, using a 21-10 second-half rebounding edge to win the battle of the boards, 36-31, for the game. The Bulldogs continued its torrid free throw shooting, canning 88.9 percent (24-of-27) for the game.