DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College used a balanced scoring attack to record its fourth win in a row and remain undefeated in Freedom Conference play as the Aggies defeated visiting FDU-Florham, 74-65.
Delaware Valley has been victorious in each of its games since the calendar turned to 2015 and Wednesday night's triumph improved the squad to 10-6 overall and 5-0 in the Freedom. The Devils fell to 1-15 and 0-5.
FDU-Florham surprised the home Aggie crowd by building a 21-15 advantage with 8:10 left in the first half. Delaware Valley scored eight of the next nine, including a pair of 3-pointers from Nick Sullivan, to take the lead, but it was short-lived. The two teams eventually went into the locker room tied at 33-33.
FDU-Florham jumped back out in front as Kevin Furlong opened the second half with a trey. After the teams traded layups and the Aggies' Chris Moran hit two free throws, Furlong added a layup for a 40-37 Devils' advantage with 17:43 to go.
Delaware Valley answered eight seconds later as Zach Sly hit a 3-pointer and it ignited a 14-2 run over the next five minutes that put the Aggies up nine, 51-42. Sly had six in the spurt and Moran punctuated it with an alley-oop dunk.
However, FDU-Florham refused to go away as it scored 11 of the next 14 over the next five minutes to make it a one-point contest. Then it was Delaware Valley's turn again, this time it was eight straight points with a Sly layup and back-to-back 3-pointers from Francis Arnold.
The Devils cut their deficit to five on two occasions, but the Aggies hit their free throws each time to make it a three-possession game. FDU-Florham made one final stab and got it to four, 69-65, after a trey from Michael Barber with 47 seconds to go. However, Sullivan hit one from the foul line while Arnold and Barry Brockington hit two apiece for the 74-65 final.
The two teams combined for 15 treys and just 15 turnovers in the game. The big difference came at the charity stripe where Delaware Valley was 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) while the Devils were just 10-for-17 (58.8 percent).
After a slow start, Arnold picked it up in the second half with 14 of his team-high 16 points coming in the final 20 minutes. The senior guard also had seven rebounds and five assists in the game. Sly added 15 points while Sullivan had 13 points in the first half and 14 for the contest. Brockington came off the bench to add 12 points and six boards while Moran finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Veon Lassiter notched 17 points and seven rebounds for FDU-Florham. Furlong had 13 points, 10 boards and four assists while Tymiak Hawkins hit double digits in scoring with 10 points.