DALLAS (PA) – Tyliek Kimbrough's floater in the paint with 0.8 seconds left lifted third-seeded Delaware Valley University to a thrilling, 58-57 victory at second-seeded Misericordia University in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom semifinals.
The win sends the Aggies to the MAC Freedom Championship Game on Saturday, February 27 and the contest will take place on the James Work Gymnasium home court as fourth-seeded Wilkes University upset top-seeded DeSales University, 72-62, in the other semifinal match-up. Tip-off time will be announced on Thursday.
It marks the second straight year and the fourth time in six seasons that DelVal is in the title game and playing for an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The squad cut down the nets in 2011 and 2013 and lost at Misericordia last year. DelVal also tied a school record with its 19th win of the season (19-7), matching the victory total from the '13 team. Misericordia's season ended with a 15-11 record.
Down one, MAC Freedom Player of the Year candidate Chris Moran was fouled while driving to the basket with 10.9 seconds left. The senior missed both free throws, but freshman Andre' Butler grabbed the offensive board, the 19th at that end for DelVal. The ball eventually got to Kimbrough and the junior transfer drove to the paint He lofted a shot over a pair of defenders and hit nothing but net. The Cougars called time and the officials put two-tenths of a second back on a clock. Misericordia got a good lock at a game-ending shot as James Hawks caught a long pass just inside the 3-point line, but it hit the back rim and stayed out and the Aggies celebrated the win.
It didn't look like it would come down to the end after Alex Matsinye stole a ball and went coast to coast for a throw-down dunk that put DelVal up 10, 56-46, with 5:49 remaining. However, those were the last points for the team until the final second as Misericordia roared back to take a one-point lead when D.J. Marlow connected on a three-point play with 57.8 seconds left. Kimbrough was fouled at the other end, but he missed his second straight, one-and-one situation. Kimbrough grabbed his own miss but then had a shot blocked.
The Cougars turned the ball over when Marlow slipped on the floor and travelled with 24.1 seconds to go. DelVal called time and got the ball in to Moran. That set the stage for the frantic finish and Kimbrough's game-winner.
Kimbrough finished with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes of action. Moran played the full 40 and tallied 19 points and 10 boards. In the process, he moved into 10th place on the Aggie all-time scoring list 1,314 points. Fellow senior Barry Brockington added 16 points and eight boards for DelVal, which held a 47-36 advantage on the boards.
The Aggies came out flying as they rode Moran early. He scored the team's first seven points, including an alley-oop jam. Barry Brockington followed with a putback and Misericordia called timeout just 2:33 in.
Later in the half, Moran had another dunk and Kimbrough followed with a drive to give the Aggies eight baskets in their 11 attempts and an 18-9 advantage five minutes in. The Cougars responded with nine straight to tie the game, but back came DelVal as Kimbrough drilled a 3-pointer and Zach Sly went coast to coast for a 23-18 lead at the halfway point of the first stanza.
Misericordia scored seven straight, including a 3-point play by Jason Kenny for its first lead of the game. Kimbrough answered right away with a bomb and then scored on a drive. After a Cougar basket, Moran had his third dunk of the half to put DelVal up by three, 30-27, with 6:14 left.
The rest of the stanza went back and forth and the Aggies took a 36-32 advantage into the intermission. DelVal cooled off some, but still shot 41 percent from the field and had a 23-17 edge on the boards, including nine on the offensive end. Kimbrough (14 points) and Moran (13) led the way while Kenny had nine for Misericordia.
In the second half, the Aggies increased their lead to eight, 44-36, after Kimbrough hit a floater in the paint with 14:40 to go. Tyler McGarry hit back-to-back treys and Kenny sank one free throw for the Cougars to make it a one-point game. DelVal responded with six straight that culminated with a three-point play from Brockington with 9:21 remaining. The Aggies got the advantage up to as many as 10 following Matsinye's steal and dunk that had the two busloads of DelVal students that made the trip up on their feet. That was all the scoring until Kimbrough's heroics.
Kenny paced Misericordia with 12 points while Hawk and Marlow had 10 points apiece. Erik Kerns added nine points and 10 boards in the loss.