DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Arcadia University shot 60.9 percent from the field in the second half as the Knights picked up their second straight non-league win over a Freedom Conference team with an 80-77 triumph over host Delaware Valley College.
Arcadia, which bumped off 2013 Freedom runner-up DeSales University on Saturday, improved to 3-1 on the year. The defending Freedom Conference champion Aggies fell to 3-2 and will now wait eight days until their league opener at home against King's College on Wednesday, December 4.
The Knights hit 14 of their 23 attempts from the field over the final 20 minutes as they erased an early eight-point deficit in the half. They finished the game shooting 28-for-53 (52.8%) and also got the job done at the foul line with an 18-for-22 (81.8%) effort. On the other side, Delaware Valley shot just 44.1% from the field and was 17-for-28 (60.7%) from the charity stripe.
The Aggies, behind a combined 32 points from the trio of Francis Arnold, Chris Moran and Zach Sly, took a 41-39 lead into the intermission. They scored 14 of the first 22 points of the second half to open up a 55-47 advantage with 13:37 left on the clock.
Arcadia answered with a 14-3 run, including eight points from Ryan Kelly, over the next five minutes to build a five-point lead of their own. The advantage went to as many as nine after Rashon Brock completed a three-point play with 5:11 to go.
Back came Delaware Valley as a 3-pointers from Jay Donovan and Arnold, as well as four points from Sly, keyed a 10-2 run that left the team down one, 74-73 with 3:16 remaining. The teams traded layups and then free throws for a 78-77 Knight advantage with less than a minute to go.
Delaware Valley got a defensive rebound off a missed jumper and Arnold was fouled with 16 seconds left. However, the 84 percent foul shooter missed both attempts and Arcadia's Joe Brown was fouled after grabbing the board off the second miss.
Brown managed to hit just one free throw, leaving it a two-point game with 13 ticks to go. Sly raced down the court and drove to the basket, but he was called for an offensive foul with 6.6 seconds left. Delaware Valley quickly fouled Torell Candelaria off the inbounds and he hit one of two attempts as it was still a one-possession game. The Aggies turned the ball over near halfcourt and Arcadia had the 80-77 win.
Brock paced the Knights with 18 points while Kelley came off the bench to add 12 points. Travis Saltus also had 12 points and Brown finished with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
Arnold was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point land as he finished the evening with 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Moran had 17 points while Sly racked up 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals. Donovan and Zach Sibel added nine and seven points respectively.