MARIETTA (OH) – Delaware Valley University fought back from a 14-point, second-half deficit to force overtime, but it wasn't enough as the greatest season in Aggie men's basketball history came to an end with an 88-78 setback to Oswego State University in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Division III Championship.
DelVal won a school-record 20 games and finished the campaign with a 20-8 record, its third Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom championship and its third trip to the NCAAs. The conference titles and postseason berths have all come in the last six years under head coach Casey Stitzel, who dramatically turned the fortunes of the program from the moment he stepped on campus eight seasons ago.
"I think we really fought hard," Stitzel said in the NCAA postgame press conference. "That's what we've been doing all year. They never quit and they never stop fighting. I'm just really proud of our guys. It's been a great year."
DelVal led at halftime for the first time in an NCAA tournament game, 36-32, but Oswego State used an early 14-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 15:38 remaining. The Lakers increased the lead to 11 and the Aggies then suffered a big blow when leading scorer and MAC Freedom Player of the Year Chris Moran went down with an injury. Shortly after, Kyle Covley hit a 3-pointer, the sixth of the half for Oswego State, to give the Lakers a 60-46 lead with 10:15 remaining.
However, as they have done numerous times this season, the Aggies fought back and went on one of their patented runs that was sparked by the defense. Tyrea Williams, who came in for Moran, had a tip-in and freshman Alex Matsinye followed with a trey. Then after an Oswego State turnover, Barry Brockington sank a jumper with 8:43 to go. Neither team scored for nearly two minutes before Tyliek Kimbrough hit a free throw to conclude an 8-0 DelVal run as it cut its deficit to six, 60-54.
Brian Sortino scored four straight for the Lakers to put their lead back up to double digits. Back came the Aggies as a Brockington 3-pointer and three free throws from Kimbrough made it 64-60 with 4:07 remaining. Oswego State followed with a free throw but Williams scored inside. After a Lakers' turnover, Brockington hit a long jumper. Kimbrough was later fouled and he hit one of two attempts from the line and the game was suddenly tied at 65-55 with 2:36 left.
DelVal had four shots to take the lead, thanks to offensive rebounds, but could not put the ball in the basket. Matsinye then got to the foul line with 45 seconds and he hit the second of two attempts to give the Aggies the lead. But, with the shot clock winding down, Sortino got the basket and scored while being fouled. It was the Lakers' first basket from the field in nearly 10 full minutes and Sortino completed the three-point play to give Oswego State a 68-66 lead with 18.4 seconds left.
DelVal elected not to call a timeout and Kimbrough found Brockington open for a 3-point attempt. It was just off the mark but freshman Andre' Butler grabbed the offensive rebound, just like he did right before the game-winning basket in the conference semifinal win at Misericordia. Butler's shot did not go on as the buzzer sounded, but the officials had called a foul on the Lakers. They put 0.8 seconds back on the clock and Butler was on the foul line with a chance to send the game to overtime. The freshman sank the first attempt and Oswego State called time to try to freeze him. It did not work as Butler hit the second and the game went to overtime tied at 68-68.
Moran came back at the start of overtime, but the injury clearly affected his play and the Aggies ran out of gas. The Lakers hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the extra session and, after a Matsinye basket, Sortino drilled a bomb of his own. The advantage went up to as many as 12 before the 88-78 final.
Sortino finished with 39 points, including 27 throughout the second half and overtime. He was 9-for-17 from the field (6-for-8 from 3-point land) and 15-for-17 from the foul line. Covley (20 points) drilled six treys of his own as the Lakers were 15-for-27 (55.6%) from beyond the arc.
DelVal forced Oswego State into 24 miscues in the game which led to a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The team also had 26 more shot attempts because of the turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds. The Aggies got also got to the foul line 30 times, but struggled from the stripe and hit just half of their attempts.
Brockington, a senior, and Kimbrough, a junior, paced DelVal with 17 points apiece. Kimbrough had five steals and five rebounds. Senior Matthew Gerner came off the bench and drilled a trio of 3-pointers, en route to a 14-point showing. Matsinye added seven points while senior Zach Sly had six points and three steals in his final collegiate game.
Moran had 11 points, nine of which came in the first half. The three-time all-conference honoree ended his standout career as the school's 10th all-time leading scorer with 1,336 points. Moran also finished second all-time in blocked shots (125), fifth in rebounds (779) and seventh in field goals (548).
Moran was fed the ball in the early going and he responded with the team's first six points. It was 10-10 when the Aggies scored six straight as Brockington hit a pull-up jumper, Sly had a steal and basket, and Kimbrough scored on a drive for a 16-10 advantage with 13:03 remaining in the first half.
However, the DelVal offense went scoreless for a more than five minutes and Oswego State responded with a 9-0 run and a three-point lead with 9:17 on the clock. Gerner ended the drought for the Aggies as the senior came off the bench and had a putback with 7:30 to go.
Gerner continued to shine in the half as, three minutes later, he drained a 3-pointer while being fouled. He completed the four-point play for a 26-25 lead. After a Lakers basket, Moran drilled a trey from the right corner. Each team added a free throw before garner hit back-to-back bombs in a 30-second span for a 36-30 lead. Oswego State sank two free throws for the final points of the half as the Aggies were up four at the break.
DelVal's pressure defense forced 14 Laker turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and it resulted in a 13-3 advantage in points off miscues. The Aggies also had 15 more shots from the field because of the extra possessions and they shot 44.1 percent from the field. However, they struggled from the foul line, converting just two of nine opportunities. Gerner had 12 points in nine minutes while Moran and Kimbrough had nine and six points respectively. For Oswego State, the team was 10-for-19 from the field, including a 6-for-10 effort from 3-point land. Sortino hit all three of his 3-point attempts and he paced the squad with 12 points at the break.