DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Zach Sly hit a layup with 9.7 seconds left and it stood as the game-winning shot as Delaware Valley College posted an 80-79 victory over visiting St. Mary's College in front of a raucous crowd for its home opener.

The contest featured two teams that reached the NCAA Division III playoffs two years ago. The win was the first for the Aggies in three games this season and they did so despite not having the services of all-region guard Francis Arnold who was out with an injury. The Seahawks, who reached the Elite Eight in 2013, fell to 1-2.

It was a back-and-forth battle between two teams as there were six ties and 17 lead changes. In fact, the lead changed hands three times in the last 32 seconds alone. St. Mary's held a 77-74 lead with 1:20 to go but Sly was fouled five seconds later and he hit both shots. After a Seahawks miss, Delaware Valley came down and got the ball inside to Barry Brockington. Brockington missed his shot but a scramble on the rebound resulted in the ball getting in the hands of Sly. He fed a wide-open Moran, who hit a shot while being fouled with 32 ticks left. He missed the foul shot, but the Aggies still had the lead at 77-76.

St. Mary's came down the court and Tanner Brooks got by his defender and put in a layup with 17 seconds left for a one-point Seahawks advantage. The speedy Sly, who got the start in Arnold's absence, received the inbounds pass and went coast-to-coast and laid one in off the glass for the 80-79 lead.

Sly was then called for the foul on Nick LaGuerre who had already scored 31 points on the night, including an 8-for-9 showing from the free throw line. LaGuerre stepped to the line for a one-in-one and, with the home crowd roaring, he missed the front end. Moran came away with the rebound out of a scramble and he was fouled with eight-tenths of a second to go. He missed the first and then intentionally missed the second. The Seahawks' Donya Jackson grabbed the board and tried a desperation shot, but it fell way short and Delaware Valley had the big victory.

St. Mary's hit eight of its first 10 shots on the night to jump out to a 23-15 advantage. The Seahawks built it up to nine on two occasions, the last at 29-20 with 8:11 left in the first half. Back came Delaware Valley with 12 straight points over the next three minutes, including a pair of highlight-reel dunks by Moran for a 32-29 advantage. The Aggies eventually took a 37-35 lead into the break.

Neither squad had an advantage higher than five in the second half and that was Delaware Valley at 42-37 in the opening moments of the stanza. St. Mary's largest lead was three on three separate occasions, including down the stretch before the back-and-forth finish and the Aggie win.

Both teams shot better than 46 percent from the field while both connected on seven shots from 3-point land. Delaware Valley picked up nine more points on the foul line (23-for-31 compared to 14-for-17) and forced the Seahawks into 18 turnovers.

Moran led the Aggies with 17 points while Nick Sullivan drained a trio of 3-pointers, en route to a 16-point night. Brockington sparked the team off the bench with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Dom Perry had 13 points as well. Sly finished with 11 points, including the game-winning shot.

LaGuerre was 10-for-14 from the field (3-for-4 from 3-point land) and 8-for-10 from the foul line for his 31 points in 33 minutes of action. Jackson finished with 13 points while Troy Spurrier added 10 points off the bench.