DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College, behind another big effort from Nathan Bollinger, knocked off the Freedom Conference front-runner for the second Saturday in a row, this time an 83-71 home triumph over Eastern University.
Delaware Valley improved to 5-16 overall and 2-8 in the Freedom while the Eagles fell to 14-7 and 7-3.
Last Saturday, Bollinger set an Aggie record by pouring in 50 points in an overtime win over Wilkes University. That bumped the Colonels from the top spot in the conference and Eastern took over. This time, Bollinger connected for 29 points, including 21 in the second half, as he was 9-for-18 from the field (3-for-8 from 3-point land) and 8-for-9 from the foul line. He added three rebounds and three steals while playing the full 40 minutes.
Eastern, behind 12 first-half points from Alex Nelson, took a 34-29 lead into the intermission. The Eagles then upped their lead to 11, 48-37, following a three-point play with 15:12 remaining. Delaware Valley's Jay Donovan came back with a 3-pointer, but Collin Whipple answered with a jumper at the other end for a 50-40 Eastern advantage.
The next five minutes belonged to Delaware Valley as it went on a 13-2 run for a 53-52 lead. Bollinger had six of the 13 points with a three-point play inside and a bomb from beyond the arc. The two teams then traded leads before a Donald Kaiser layup for Eastern made it a 63-63 contest with 5:54 remaining.
It was all Delaware Valley from there as it scored seven in a row on a Nate Lewis jumper, a Jeremy Beckett dunk, two free throws by Bollinger and one free throw from Daulton Derr. That was the start of what would be a 20-8 Aggie spurt to end the contest.
Beckett finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. The junior became just seventh player in program history to go over the 600-rebound plateau (603) for a career and he moved to within 43 points of the 1,000-point plateau. Beckett is already the school's all-time leader in blocked shots with 178.
Derr contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Donovan added 10 points and four boards while Cam Lee notched six points, five rebounds and four assists.
Nelson led Eastern with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Kaiser had 16 points and five boards. Whipple and Michael Donoatoni scored 13 and 12 points respectively.