DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Barry Brockington hit a 3-pointer with three-tenths of a second remaining as Delaware Valley University rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to stun visiting Eastern University, 72-70, in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom game.
The wild comeback kept the Aggies in sole possession of first place as they improved to 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the MAC Freedom. It was also their fourth win in a row overall and their 14th straight win at home dating back to last season. The loss dropped the Eagles to 9-10 and 3-5.
DelVal trailed 40-23 at halftime, but came all the way back to go up four, 69-65, with 52 seconds remaining. The last five came thanks to two players off the bench as Matthew Gerner drained a trey in the right corner with 1:53 remaining and Tyrea Williams added a putback.
Eastern came down and wound up with four chances at a basket thanks to a DelVal turnover and two offensive rebounds. On the fourth, Malcom Garrison drilled a bomb with 22 seconds left to make it a one-point game. DelVal's Tyliek Kimbrough was fouled with 18.3 ticks to go and he missed the front end of a one-in-one. Abraham Kurnick was fouled on the defensive rebound and went to the line for two foul shots in the double bonus. He missed the first, but sank the second to tie it up at 69-69.
DelVal inbounded the ball and elected to not call a timeout. Point guard Zach Sly ran the clock down and began to drive. With a defender on him, he fed a pass to Brockington in the left corner. The senior hit nothing but net for the win. Part of the Aggie crowd came on the court to celebrate and they were joined by the bench as the buzzer went off. However, the officials stated that there was still three-tenths of a second left on the clock and a technical foul was called for the DelVal crowd being on the floor. Eastern's Shaquan Turk hit the one free throw that was awarded and the Eagles then inbounded the ball from the far end. The long pass was intercepted by Brockington and the Aggies came away with the comeback victory.
It was all Eastern in the first half as the Eagles jumped out to an early 10-point lead. DelVal got back to within single digits on three separate occasions, but Eastern had an answer each time. Then, after Sly hit a pair of free throws for a 32-22 score, Tarek Hamzeh and Anthony Conception nailed back-to-back treys for a 16-point Eagles' advantage and they eventually went into the locker room up 17, 40-24. Eastern hit seven of 15 attempts from 3-point land and shot 46.4 percent overall while the Aggies were just 8-for-29 (27.6%) from the field and 1-for-8 (12.5%) from long range.
The Aggies came charging out of the intermission and used an 11-3 run to get back to within nine at 43-34. Kimbrough and Chris Moran combined for nine points in the sport. However, DelVal was being called for fouls on its aggressive defensive play and both Moran and Alex Matsinye had to sit with four fouls apiece.
Meanwhile, Eastern got the lead back up to 15, 51-36, with 11:50 remaining and appeared to have survived DelVal's run. But, despite having their leading scorer (Moran) and another starter (Matsinye) on the bench, the Aggies would not quit and they put together a 12-0 run that made it a three-point contest with 8:38 left on the clock. Sly began the run with a 3-pointer and, following baskets from Brockington and Kimbrough, ended it with a layup and another bomb.
The teams exchanged baskets with DelVal's two points coming on a monster dunk from Williams. Krunick then hit two foul shots and Concepcion added another trey to put the Eagles back up eight, 58-50, with 6:20 remaining. Moran re-entered the game and the forward/center scored six straight points thanks to four free throws and a layup. Kurnick hit a short jumper, but it was Moran again, this time with a 3-poitner, to give the Aggies their first lead of the afternoon, 61-60, with 3:53 to go.
Turk regained the lead for Eastern with a pair of free throws, but Moran drilled another from beyond the arc to give him 12 points in a three-minute span and his team a 64-62 lead as the clock ticked under three minutes to play. Back came the Eagles as they hit three of four free throws in the next 22 seconds to go back up one, 65-64. Gerner's trey and Williams' putback gave DelVal its largest lead. It set the stage for Eastern to come back and tie the game, only to see Brockington win it for the Aggies with his last-second 3-pointer.
Moran finished with 21 points and six rebounds before fouling out late. Sly had 12 points while Brockington had 11 points and five boards. His game-winning trey was the seventh of the half for DelVal, which turned around its shooting fortunes by going 7-for-13 from long range in the final 20 minutes. Kimbrough had nine points, nine assists and six boards while Gerner and Williams combined for 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Eastern, which shot 26.9 percent from the field in the second half, including a 2-for-7 effort from 3-point land, was led by Turk's 20 points and eight rebounds. Kurnick came off the bench to net 13 points in 24 minutes of action.