DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half as the Aggies erased a one-point halftime deficit and regained sole possession of first place in the Freedom Conference with an 85-80 victory over visiting Manhattanville College.
This victory, combined with Misericodia University's triumph over DeSales University on Wednesday put the defending champion Aggies one game ahead of both those squads, FDU-Florham and King's College with a 4-1 Freedom record (9-7 overall). The Aggies travel to Misericordia on Saturday, January 25.
The first half saw the two teams play to 10 ties with neither squad leading by more than four points. The Valiants (6-10, 2-3 Freedom) shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first stanza compared to Delaware Valley's 40 percent effort as they took a 35-34 lead into the break.
The trend continued into the second half with the two squads going back and forth and playing to the 14th tie of the game at 46-46 with 14:32 still on the clock. From there, the Aggies put together a 10-0 run that featured a Jay Donovan trey at the front and back end of the spurt with two Adonis Fleming layups in-between. The team continued the run and extended its lead to 61-49 with five of the next seven points.
Manhattanville responded with a 10-2 run of its own over the next three and half minutes to get the deficit back to four, 63-59. Colin Campbell and Juan Camacho had three points each over that stretch.
The Aggies scored seven of the next 10 points, five of which were free throws from Zach Sly and Nick Sullivan, to extend the lead back to eight at 70-62 with just under three minutes to play. Free throws were the theme down the stretch for Delaware Valley as it hit 10 of 12 from the charity stripe. The Valiants made 3-pointers late to keep the pressure on, but the Aggies walked away with the five-point win.
The teams had similar numbers in all categories with Delaware Valley outrebounding Manhattanville 39-30 and outshooting them from the field (50 percent to 48.3 percent). The second half was the difference as the Aggies connected on 15 of 24 shots from the field. They hit 57 percent of their attempts from long range in the final 20 minutes to give them a 46.7 percentage for the game (the Valiants shot 37.5 percent from 3-point land).
Delaware Valley had five players score in double digits with Sullivan leading the way with 20 points, thanks to 10-for-11 shooting from the foul line. Sly was dominant with 17 points, nine assists and six boards. Adonis Fleming came off the bench to produce a career-high 15 points while Chris Moran added 12 points and nine rebounds. Jay Donovan connected for 11 points in the win.
The Valiants were led by their senior Jack Bramswig and his game-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Campbell and Anthony Maestre each pitched in with 15 points and Camacho dropped 12.