DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Bob Zanneo came off the bench to pace a balanced DeSales University attack with 18 points as the two-time defending Freedom Conference champion Bulldos notched an 83-73 victory over host Delaware Valley College in a battle of the two teams tied for first place in the league.
DeSales, which began the year 1-3 in Freedom play, has now won seven overall games in a row and six in the conference to improve to 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the league. The Aggies have dropped three straight conference contests to fall to 9-12 and 3-7. They are now tied Misericorida University and Wilkes University for second place and just a game ahead of fifth-place King's College with four games to go. Delaware Valley will host King's on Wednesday night, February 9. The top four teams advance to the Freedom Conference playoffs.
The Aggies came flying out the gate in front of a raucous home crowd and built a 15-2 advantage in the first 3:30 of the contest. Jason Goldheimer hit a trio of 3-pointers while Jeremy Beckett had a pair of fast-break dunks to lead the charge.
The Delaware Valley lead was still at 13, 18-5, when the Bulldogs scored 13 of the next 17 points, including five by Zanneo, to make it a 22-18 game with 10:44 remaining in the half. DeSales eventually took a five-point in the stanza before the Aggies went on a 9-4 run over the final 2:53 and the teams went into the locker room tied at 41-41.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with an 11-4 run, keyed by Brian Hunter's five points, but the Aggies roared back and tied at 54-54 with 10:41 left on the clock. DeSales went back up three, but James Jones came down and drilled a 3-pointer to tie the contest once again. However, that was short-lived as Zanneo banked in a trey just 14 seconds after Jones' shot to regain the lead for DeSales and it would never relinquish it the rest of the way.
Delaware Valley did pull to within one on a pair of occasions, the last coming on a jumper in the paint by Beckett that made it 72-71 with exactly four minutes to go. The Aggies had a chance to take the lead after forcing a turnover, but failed on their attempt. DeSales' Paul Pammer then drilled a long-distance shot to make it a four-point game. Jones cut it in half with a pair of free throws with 3:04 on the clock, but Pammer hit a layup after an offensive rebound by Brian Kerwin on a Hunter miss to make it 77-73.
After a pair of missed opportunities by the Aggies, Jones picked up his fifth personal foul and had to leave the game with 1:07 remaining. Zanneo hit both free throws after the foul and, after an Aggie miss, Pammer hit two from the line for an eight-point lead. Pammer hit two more free throws with 41 seconds left for the 83-73 final.
Zanneo was 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-4 from 3-point land, and 4-for-4 from the foul line. He also grabbed nine rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Hunter finished with 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds while Pammer and Brett Moyer had 15 points apiece. Moyer also grabbed 11 rebounds as DeSales held a 49-29 edge on the boards, including 16 on the offensive end.
Beckett was 12-for-24 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line as the sophomore center finished with a career high 30 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked six shots. Goldheimer finished with five treys and 17 points while Jones, the Freedom's leading scorer, was held eight points under his average as he notched 12 points and seven assists before fouling out.