DOYLESTOWN (PA) – In a battle of defending conference champions, it was Delaware Valley College (Freedom Conference) that proved victorious over Ramapo College (New Jersey Athletic Conference) as the host Aggies came back after letting a late lead slip away in regulation and posted a 92-83 win in overtime.

Delaware Valley improved to 2-1 overall with both of its victories coming in overtime against teams from the NJAC (Rowan University and Ramapo) that won a combined 40 games last season. It was the season opener for the Roadrunners, who were 23-7 a year ago.

The Aggies looked to be in control after Zach Sly hit two free throws with a 1:55 left in regulation to lift the lead to seven, 79-72. However, Ramapo forced Delaware Valley into three turnovers and a three-point play by Terry Hicks and layups by Tyler Barnes and Jermaine Emanuel tied it up. The Aggies then turned the ball over with 15 seconds left and the Roadrunners had a chance to win it. However, a 3-point attempt by John Martens was off the mark and the game went to overtime.

Delaware Valley won the opening tap and, 15 seconds later, Jay Donovan hit his seventh trey of the game to give the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish. One minute after Donovan's bomb, Nate Brown stole a pass, went down the court and scored while being fouled. He hit the free throw for a six-point advantage.

Ramapo scored four of the next six points, but those were its only baskets of the extra session as it shot 2-for-8 from the field. Meanwhile, Francis Arnold drilled a big 3-pointer from the top of the key with two minutes to go and Chris Moran hit a layup with 34 ticks left to give Delaware Valley 13 of the 17 points in overtime and the nine-point win.

The game featured 21 lead changes and 16 ties. Both teams shot just under 50 percent from the field and the Aggies held a slim 39-38 advantage on the boards. The big difference came from beyond the arc as Delaware Valley connected on 10 of 24 attempts (41.7%) while the Roadrunners were just 3-for-15 (20%).

Donovan was one reason why as the junior hit seven of nine shots from 3-point land and tied a career-high with 28 points. He had 17 points in the opening half, including a pair of treys in the first four minutes as the Aggies jumped out to a 17-6 lead.  Ramapo came right back and ran off 13 straight to take the lead and it went back-and-forth for the rest of the half with Delaware Valley eventually taking a 40-39 advantage into the intermission.

Neither team led by more than five for the first 13-plus minutes of the second half and that came with 6:34 to go after Arnold hit a trey to make it 70-65. A 3-pointer by Emanuel and a layup by Patrick O'Connell in the next 71 seconds quickly tied it back up. Emanuel then hit a free throw to put Ramapo up one before Sly had six straight points and Arnold added a free throw for a six-point lead. The Aggies pushed the lead to seven shortly after, but Ramapo rallied to force an overtime that belonged to Delaware Valley.

Arnold had a big overall effort for the Aggies as he finished with 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. Moran had a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards while Sly added 11 points and five assists. In fact, that trio, along with Donovan combined for 79 of Delaware Valley's 92 points.

Emanuel led Ramapo with 19 points and six rebounds. Martens finished with 13 points while Barnes and Frank Nock had 11 points apiece and combined for 21 rebounds.