DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College's dreams of defending its Freedom Conference championship came to an end in the regular-season finale as FDU-Florham rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit and defeated the host Aggies, 78-76, in overtime.
The win put the Devils in next week's Freedom tournament as they improved to 13-12 overall and 8-6 in league action. Wins by Misericordia and King's on Saturday moved FDU-Florham up to the number three seed and it will travel to Misericordia for the semifinals on Wednesday. Delaware Valley's loss put Manhattanville in the postseason and the Valiants will travel to top-seeded DeSales.
For the Aggies, the promising season came to a disappointing end at 12-13 overall and 7-7 in the Freedom. They were in first place in the conference standings just three weeks ago, but losses in five of their last six games, including two at home, has them on the outside looking in. Head coach Casey Stitzel will have the entire squad back as there were no seniors on the roster.
Delaware Valley scored the first six points of the game before FDU-Florham pulled to within two on two occasions. The Aggies were then up by just two, 17-15, and starting guards Francis Arnold and Zach Sly were both on the bench with two fouls. However, they went on an 11-0 run, including five from Nate Brown off the bench, to open up a 13-point lead with 7:32 to go in the half.
The rest of the half went back and forth and the Aggies, behind 13 from Brown and 11 from Chris Moran, took a 38-29 lead into the intermission. Trevor Sykes and Will Green had 26 of the Devils' 29 points over those first 20 minutes.
FDU-Florham opened the second stanza with a 10-2 run to pull to within one. Delaware Valley responded with 12 straight, including a rare 3-pointer from Moran, a center, and a 52-39 lead with 11:15 remaining.
The Aggies had three possessions to increase the lead but failed to do so and the Devils rallied for a 23-7 run and their first lead of the game at 62-59 with 2:35 remaining. Five different players scored in the spurt, including Sykes who had seven points with the last five giving his team the lead.
Nick Sullivan tied the game with a 3-pointer with 2:19 left, but Sykes answered with a trey of his own just 20 seconds later. Sly scored on a drive for the Aggies and Arnold hit one of two free throws with 53 seconds left. Brown grabbed the offensive rebound off Arnold's miss and, late in the possession, Moran got inside for a 67-65 Delaware Valley advantage with 21 seconds to go.
The Devils came down and Sykes tried a step-back jumper with 11.2 seconds to go. His feet were inside the 3-point line but the Aggies were called for a foul and the referees awarded Sykes three free throws on what they called a 3-point shot. He hit the first two to tie the game but missed the third. Sly came down and drove hard to the basket, but a foul was not called as Green got credited with the block. A long 3-point attempt by FDU-Florham was short and the game headed to overtime.
Kevin Furlong and Moran traded baskets before Sykes jumper gave the Devils a 71-69 lead. Arnold hit a free throw with 2:37 to go, but Furlong hit a jumper with 49 ticks left for a three-point lead. Sullivan drilled another big trey for the Aggies, this time with 39.1 seconds left to tie the game at 73-73.
FDU-Florham broke the Delaware Valley press and Green got an easy layup with 28.6 seconds left for the 75-73 lead. Arnold was fouled eight seconds later, but the junior and leading scorer for the Aggies missed both free throws. Furlong was fouled with 17.6 seconds and he missed the front end of a one-in-one, but Green got the offensive rebounds and Sykes was fouled with 13.8 seconds left. He hit both attempts for a 77-73 Devil advantage.
Arnold came down the court and drilled a long 3-pointer with 8.8 ticks to go to make it a one-point game. Arnold then fouled out eight-tenths of a second later and he sent Furlong to the line. Furlong hit the first but missed the second. However, the Devils' Donte Ali grabbed the board. Ali's shot was blocked as he went up and the Aggies got the ball, but precious seconds ran off the clock. Zach Sibel threw a pass to Moran who tried a desperation 3-pointer as the buzzer went off. The shot was well off the mark and Delaware Valley's season came to an end.
Sykes was 10-for-19 from the field and 10-for-12 from the foul line as he finished with 32 points while playing the full 45 minutes for the Devils. Green did the same and he notched 19 points and 15 rebounds, including four of the team's 14 offensive boards. John Flete had 10 points, rebounds and five assists in the win.
Moran was 11-for-19 from the field and ended the afternoon with 23 points and eight boards for the Aggies. Arnold had 17 points and three steals while Brown came off the bench to score 13 points, all in the first half. Sullivan had two big 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.