HARTFORD (CT) – Delaware Valley University saw its school-record, 10-game winning streak come to an end as the Aggies fell to perennial power Trinity College (CT), 78-64, in the championship game of the Trinity's Holiday Invitational.
The loss was the first for DelVal since the opening night of the season - an 83-66 setback to Alvernia University on November 14 - as it fell to 10-2 on the campaign. The Bantams, who reached the Elite Eight last season and was ranked as high as 12th this year, improved to 7-3.
The Aggies couldn't find their shooting touch all afternoon as they hit just 17 of 54 shots (31.5%) from the field, including a 4-for-14 (28.6%) effort from 3-point land. They did get to the foul line 34 times, making 26 of them (76.5%). Meanwhile, Trinity shot 48.3 percent from the field overall and was 7-for-14 beyond the arc. The Bantams also held a 42-28 advantage on the boards.
Trinity started the game with a 13-6 run, but DelVal fought back and tied the game at 15-15 on an Alex Matsinye layup with 10:16 left in the half. Matsinye had five of the Aggies' point in their 9-2 spurt. Neither team led by more than three points for the rest of the half with the Bantams eventually taking a 29-26 advantage into the intermission.
DelVal scored the first five points of the second stanza, all coming from Matsinye. The first three were on the foul line after contact was made on his 3-point attempt, and the next two came on a coast-to-coast drive following a steal. Trinity quickly tied the game, but Matsinye hit a pair of free throws following a technical foul on Trinity with 17:09 remaining to regain a two-point lead for the Aggies.
Barry Brockington extended the lead to four with a pair of free throws of his own, but the Bantams went on a 10-0 run, including five from Chris Turnbull, for a 41-35 lead with 14:47 left on the clock. DelVal responded with six straight in a 32-second span as Zach Sly converted a 3-point play and Andre' Butler drained a long trey.
However, Trinity outscored the Aggies, 37-23, over the final 14 minutes to take home its tournament championship. Part of that was a 20-7 run over a seven-minute span and it include four 3-pointers by four separate players.
Ed Ogunderko finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Bantams while four teammates also hit double figures in scoring (15 from Eric Gendron, 14 from Turnbull and Jawuann Starks, 1 0 from Andrew Hurd).
Matsinye paced DelVal with 14 points while Sly added 12 points. Tyliek Kimbrough and Barry Brockington contributed 11 and nine points respectively. Leading scorer Chris Moran (20.4 avg), who had 30 points and 19 rebounds in the Wednesday's semifinal win over Pine Manor College, was held to just eight points on 3-for-18 shooting. He did grab a team-best 10 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team.
The Aggies will look to rebound on Sunday, January 3 when they host undefeated Swarthmore College (9-0) for a non-conference game.