DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College won its seventh game in a row and clinched a Freedom Conference tournament berth for the third time in the last five years thanks to a 73-52 home triumph over King's College.
The Aggies improved to 15-7 overall and remained tied with DeSales University for first place in the Freedom with a 9-2 league mark. Both teams are two games ahead of defending champion Misericordia University, which fell at Eastern University on Wednesday, and are closing in on clinching home tournament games (three games remain in the regular-season. The top four teams qualify with the postseason with the top two hosting semifinal contests on Wednesday, February 20. The Freedom Conference Championship Game, with an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs on the line, takes place at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, February 23.
Delaware Valley reached the conference tournament just one time (1969) in its entire history before head coach Casey Stitzel arrived on campus five years ago. He took over a team that had gone winless in conference play (3-22 overall) the season before and led them to the tournament. Two years later, the Aggies won the Freedom championship and went to the NCAAs. Three starters, including All-American guard James Jones, graduated and Delaware Valley fell back to 7-18 last season. Now, Stitzel has the team back in the Freedom tournament thanks to a balanced attack on offense and a defense that has held five of its last seven opponents under 60 points.
The Aggies held a slim, 34-30 lead at halftime and a Tom Heston layup on the first possession of the second stanza made it a two-point game. Delaware Valley then went on a 10-2 run, including five by Daulton Derr, to put its advantage in double digits.
King's (9-13, 4-7) pulled to within seven points on two occasions, including 49-42 when Joe Caffrey hit a three-point play inside with 12:58 remaining. The Aggies responded by scoring 15 of the next 19 points to put the game away at 64-46 lead with 6:03 on the clock. Francis Arnold hit two 3-pointers in while Jeremy Beckett added five points, including a monster dunk, in the spurt.
Delaware Valley hit 28 of 56 shots from the field with nearly half the buckets coming from 3-point land (13-for-23, 56.5%). Jay Donovan (9 points) was a perfect 3-for-3 while Arnold (14 points) and Zach Sibel (9 points) were each 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Arnold also dished out six assists. Beckett had a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards while Derr hit double-digits with 12 points.
The Monarchs, who remained one game behind FDU-Florham for the fourth and final Freedom tournament spot, was led by Joe Caffrey's 13 points. Ian Oakley added 10 points and seven boards.