DOYLESTOWN (PA) – James Jones scored all 24 of his points in the second half as Delaware Valley College rallied for a four-point halftime deficit and downed visiting Eastern University, 74-66, in a Freedom Conference game.
The win, combined with Manhattaville College's 72-58 loss at Misericordia University put the Aggies all alone in first place in the Freedom standings once again as they are 7-6 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Dan Miller hit back-to-back layups, including one just before the buzzer, to give the Eagles (8-5, 2-3 Freedom) a 33-29 lead at the intermission. Those two baskets helped the team shoot 51.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while the Aggies were 13-for-34 (38.2%), including an 0-for-6 effort by Jones.
That changed in the second half, but not before Eastern took a pair of seven-point leads, the last being 43-36 with 15:01 on the clock. Jones then hit a 3-pointer while being fouled and added the free throw for a four-point play. He then drilled a jumper and assisted on a Jeremy Beckett layup for an 8-0 run and a one-point Delaware Valley advantage.
The teams exchanged leads before a Miller jumper tied things up at 49 with 11:05 remaining. Jones hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers before a 3-point play by Alex Nelson made it a one-point game. The Aggies still maintained a three-point advantage when a free throw by Jones and a trey by Chris Ellis gave them their largest lead of the game, 65-58, with 3:14 remaining.
Miller followed with a pair of free throws for the Eagles, but they could never get closer than five the rest of the way. They were within six, 70-64 with 41 seconds to go, but Ellis and freshman Nate Lewis each hit a pair of free throws to ice the contest for Delaware Valley.
Jones was 9-for-13 from the field in the second half and finished with more than half of the team's 45 points in the stanza. The senior and two-time all-conference honoree also dished out seven assists on the afternoon. Beckett notched a double-double as he had 18 points and 16 rebounds and also blocked five shots. Ellis poured in 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Collin Whipple paced the Eagles with 20 points while Nelson added 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Miller came off the bench to notched eight points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of action.