ST. DAVIDS (PA) – Just three seasons after going winless in Freedom Conference play, Delaware Valley College will enter the upcoming postseason as the Freedom's number one seed thanks to a 66-60 victory at Eastern University.
The win over the Eagles helped the Aggies tie a school record with their 15th overall (9-5 Freedom) and assure the team of at least the number two seed and a home playoff game (the first in program history) for the semifinals. Then the results came in from New Jersey with last place FDU-Florham posting a 74-70 upset over two-time defending conference champion DeSales University. That put Delaware Valley and DeSales in a first-place tie and the Aggies earn the tiebreaker edge thanks to a season sweep of fourth-place Wilkes University.
As a result, Delaware Valley can host the Freedom Conference playoffs throughout the tournament. The run will begin on Wednesday night, February 23 when it hosts Wilkes. If the Aggies are victorious, they would then host the winner of DeSales/Misericordia University match-up in the Freedom Conference Championship Game on Saturday, February 26 (time TBA). That winner would not take home the conference title and cut down the nets, but also earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
No one would have imagined this scenario three years ago when the Aggies finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 102-54 loss at King's College to drop to 3-22 overall and 0-12 in the Freedom. A freshman by the name of Jason Goldheimer led the Aggies with 12 points on that afternoon.
A coaching change took place after the season and Casey Stitzel took over the program. In his first season, he led the squad to a Freedom playoff berth – the first for the program in 40 years – as the number five seed (the only year there were nine teams on the Freedom Conference side and five playoff berths were handed) and they dropped a close decision at Wilkes. Last year, the Aggies placed sixth out of eight and missed the postseason.
This season, Delaware Valley raced out to a 6-1 conference record, but dropped the next four to fall out of first place. However, the team regrouped to win the last three, including two on the road, to get back to the top spot. That late run began with an improbable, 82-81 win at Wilkes last Saturday when Goldheimer hit three free throws with no time remaining. Goldheimer then hit six 3-pointers and finished with 26 points in a 104-92 win over Manhattanville College on Tuesday.
Goldheimer was at it again at Eastern as he connected on five of seven attempts from long range and tied two others for game-high honors with 18 points. He hit two treys in the first half and Jeremy Beckett added 12 points as Delaware Valley took a 30-25 lead into the intermission.
With the Aggies still up four in the opening minutes of the second half, Goldheimer hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips to make it a double-digit contest. Eastern (12-12, 5-9) ran off four straight to pull to within six, but Delaware Valley answered with a 6-0 run, including four by James Jones, to put the lead to 12. The Aggies built the advantage to as many as 15 and Eastern never threatened down the stretch.
Jones, a Freedom Conference Player of the Year candidate, finished with 18 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. It was third straight game that the senior recorded double digits in free throws without missing an attempt, and he has now hit his last 39 from the charity stripe. Jones also became the first player in school history to reach the 500-point plateau for a season twice in a career (534 points in 2008-09). Beckett contributed 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in the win.
Alex Nelson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Eagles while Collin Whipple added 10 points.