DOYLESTOWN (PA) – The Delaware Valley College men's basketball team advanced to the Freedom Conference Championship Game for the first time in school history as the top-seeded Aggies posted a 69-66, semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Wilkes University in front of a packed James Work Gymnasium.
The win was a school-record 16th of the season for Delaware Valley (16-10), which was 3-22 overall (0-12 in the Freedom) just three years ago. Head coach Casey Stitzel took over the program following that 2007-08 campaign and now has the Aggies just 40 minutes away from not only a conference title but also an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Delaware Valley football team is the only squad in school history to qualify for the NCAAs in a team-qualifying sport.
Delaware Valley will host No. 2 and two-time defending champion DeSales University for the Freedom Conference crown on Saturday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. The Bulldogs advanced with a 78-69 home victory over third-seeded Misericordia University in the other semifinal match-up.
The victory was the third by the Aggies in as many games against the Colonels this season. In the two regular-season contests, they used late-game comebacks to pull out the wins. This time, they were up double digits in the second half and Wilkes (15-10) nearly rallied in the final moments.
Down 10 with 7:04 remaining, the Colonels went on a 10-2 spurt to trail by just two, 65-63, with 53 seconds to go. Chris DeRojas hit a pair of free throws and Paul Huch followed with a layup to start the run. Jeremy Beckett hit layup for the Aggies, but layups by Bernard Edmonds and DeRojas and a pair of free throws by Kendall Hinze made it a one-possession game.
Delaware Valley ran the clock down before James Jones dribbled into the paint. The Freedom Conference Player of the year was double-teamed and he tried to pass the ball to a wide-open Chris Ellis. However, the ball skipped short, went up in the air and was retried by Hinze. Wilkes crossed the halfcourt line and called timeout 17.8 seconds remaining.
Wilkes had trouble on the inbounds and Huch threw the ball deep into his end of the court. However, it was too far for his teammate and Delaware Valley's Jason Goldheimer grabbed the ball. He was fouled with 13.5 seconds left and went to the line to shoot a 1-in-1. Just 11 days earlier, the senior and last remaining player from the 3-22 squad hit three free throws with no time remaining to give the Aggies an 82-81 win. This time, he sank swished both attempts for a 67-63 Delaware Valley advantage.
Wilkes quickly came down and Huch hit an off-balanced 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to give the Colonels alive at 67-66. Jones inbounded the ball and threw deep for Beckett, who caught and was fouled with seven ticks to go. The sophomore center and second-team all-conference honoree was also in a 1-in-1 situation and he hit both foul shots to make Delaware Valley a perfect 16-for-16 from the charity stripe. More importantly, it bounced the lead back to three.
After each team took a timeout, Wilkes inbounded the ball from underneath its own basket and Breznitsky quickly brought it up the court. He got the ball to Huch, but he was blanketed and had to pass the ball back to Breznitsky. Breznitsky tossed up a 25-foot desperation attempt, but it was off the mark and the Aggies had the win.
Wilkes jumped out to a six-point lead in the opening five minutes, but Delaware Valley grabbed the lead for good just a minute later. Later in the half, the Aggies used an 11-2 run, including seven by Jones, to go ahead by 11, 32-21. However, the Colonels responded with 10 of the final 12 points of the half – seven by DeRojas – to make it a 34-31 game at the break.
Delaware Valley increased the lead to as many as 11 on two separate occasions in the second half. The Aggies still held a 10-point lead as the clock ticked towards the seven-minute mark when Wilkes made its run at a comeback victory. However, Delaware Valley held on for its first-ever playoff win.
Jones, the Freedom's leading scorer at 20.5 points per game, went over the 20-point mark for the 14th time this season as he poured in 22 points. He was 6-for-6 from the foul line, upping his consecutive streak to 45 made free throws. Jones also finished with six rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Beckett finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots while Ellis hit a trio of 3-pointers and ended the night with 15 points.
DeRojas finished his career with a team-high 20 points for Wilkes. Hinze added 15 points and seven boards while Huch contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.