CENTER VALLEY (PA) – Delaware Valley College fell from the unbeaten ranks in Freedom Conference play as DeSales University held home court and notched a 63-55 victory over the Aggies.

Delaware Valley fell to 10-7 overall and 5-1 in the league standings. The Aggies are now tied with Misericordia University atop the Freedom and the Cougars will make the trip to Doylestown on Wednesday, January 28. DeSales moved to third place as it improved to 12-5 and 4-2.

Both teams struggled from the floor as neither shot over 34 percent and the two combined to go just 13-for-42 from 3-point land. The big difference was on the foul line as DeSales had three times as many trips and went 26-for-31, compared to 7-for-10 for the Aggies. In the second half alone, the Bulldogs were 16-for-20, compared to just two makes on four attempts by Delaware Valley.

DeSales led throughout most of the contest and used a 13-0 run late in the first half to up a two-point lead to a 30-15 advantage. The Aggies closed the gap to 10 at halftime as Nick Sullivan hit a 3-pointer and Zach Sly added a layup.

Delaware Valley opened the second half with seven straight points – all by Sly – including a trey with 17:22 to go that made it 30-27. The Bulldogs responded with a 16-7 spurt that put their lead back into double digits at 46-34 at the midway point.

Then came an Aggie run as they scored 15 of the game's next 19 points with the last two coming on a Chris Moran layup to trail by just one, 50-49 with 4:24 left on the clock. Brian Laird responded with a 3-pointer on DeSales' next possession. The Aggies got to within two twice but the Bulldogs countered with free throws each time. It was still a one-possession fame at 58-55 with 30 ticks left after a Moran layup, but DeSales hit five of its final six attempts from the line for the win.

Laird finished with a game-high 14 points while Cody Deal and Travis Bryan combined for 24 points and 14 boards for DeSales.

Sullivan hit four 3-pointers and led Delaware Valley with 14 points. Francis Arnold and Sly followed with 12 and 11 points respectively. Moran, the team's leading scorer, went just 3-for-12 from the field and finished with six points and six rebounds.