MAHWAH (NJ) –Delaware Valley College greeted the New Year by jumping out to a 23-point halftime lead and then holding on at the end for an 81-80 road triumph against a 9-2 Ramapo College squad. The victory also made Casey Stitzel the winningest coach in Aggie men's basketball history while senior Francis Arnold hit the 1,000-point milestone in his career.
 
Delaware Valley, the preseason favorite in the Freedom Conference, improved its overall record to 7-6 on the season. The Aggie will now have 11 days of off time and practices before resuming league play on Wednesday, January 14 at Manhattanville College. The Aggies picked up wins in their first two Freedom games with December triumphs over King's College and Eastern University.
 
Now in his seventh season as head coach, Stitzel has certainly had an impact on the Delaware Valley men's basketball program. He took over prior to 2008-09 campaign and inherited a squad that had gone 3-22 overall and winless in conference play the season before. Since then, Stitzel has led the Aggies to 87 wins (87-82), three Freedom Conference tournament appearances (Delaware Valley had made just one conference playoff before and that was all the way back in 1969), two conference championships and two trips to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The win over Ramapo allowed Stitzel to surpass John Silan, who went 86-107 in nine seasons from 1966 to 1976.  
 
It looked like it was going to be smooth sailing to Stitzel's milestone victory as the Aggies completely dominated the first half. They scored the first eight points of the game and 18 of the first 21. The 18-3 start came in the first six-plus minutes and saw Nick Sullivan and Manny Ochenje combine for 12 of those points.
 
The Roadrunners, thanks to three consecutive 3-pointers from James Long, did make it a six-point contest shortly after. Delaware Valley got the lead back to double digits and it was still at 10, 35-25, when the Aggies scored 10 straight and 15 of 17 to take a commanding, 50-27 lead into halftime.
 
The Aggies shot 51.6 percent from the field, including a 7-for-13 effort from 3-point land, in the opening 20 minutes. They also forced Ramapo into 12 turnovers and converted them to 15 points. Sullivan hit three of the seven treys and had 13 points in the first half. Arnold, who led the late spurt with six points, had 10 before the break. They were two of eight different players who scored for Delaware Valley in the half.
 
It was still a 21-point lead six minutes into the second half but the Roadrunners cut it 10 at 68-58 near the midway point. Arnold followed with a jumper before Ramapo scored 10 straight and the lead was dwindled all the way to two, 70-68, with 4:23 to go.
 
The Roadrunners then got the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, but they turned it over. Arnold then had consecutive baskets while being fouled. The all-region guard didn't convert the free throw after the first basket but did on the second for five straight points and a 75-68 lead.
 
Ramapo hit one free throw but Chris Moran countered with a jumper at the other end and the lead climbed up to eight with 2:20 to go. But then a 9-2 run by the Roadrunners, thanks to 3-pointers by Christopher Moseley and Frank Nock as well as three free throws by Nock, suddenly made it a 79-78 game with 51 seconds left.
 
The Aggies turned the ball over and Ramapo ran the shot clock down before Nock missed a trey with 23 seconds to go. Moran grabbed the rebound and Sullivan was eventually fouled with 12 ticks left. The senior hit both of his attempts for a three-point lead. The Roadrunners got the ball over halfcourt three seconds later and called time.
 
Delaware Valley fouled with seven seconds left and Moseley hit two from the charity stripe to make it an 81-80 contest. The Aggies' Zach Sly was then fouled a second later and it put Delaware Valley in the double bonus, giving Sly two free throw attempts. He missed both, but grabbed the rebound on his second one. Sly then missed a follow-up shot and Moseley came down with the board. Josh Ford's game-winning 3-point attempt from about 25 feet was off and the Aggies escaped with the wild, non-conference win.
 
Arnold had his best game of the season and, in the process, went over the 1,000-point plateau (including his first season as fellow Division III school Bard College). The senior was 7-for-10 from the field (2-for-4 from 3-point land) and 8-for-10 from the foul line for 24 points and 1,001 in his career. He also added team-highs of eight rebounds and four assists.
 
Sullivan finished with five 3-poiners and 21 points. Moran notched 15 points, seven boards and four steals while Ochenje had seven points, six rebounds and two blocks.
 
Moseley and Ve'Shawn Polite led Ramapo, which shot 65.5 percent from the field in the second half, with 16 points apiece. Moseley also added a game-best 10 rebounds. Long had 14 points while Ford ended with 13 points in the loss.