DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Tyliek Kimbrough and Tyrea Williams combined for 43 points on Senior Night as they led Delaware Valley University to a 72-60 triumph over Eastern University and into a first-place tie with the Eagles in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom.
The outcome moved both teams to 15-9 overall and 10-3 in league play with just one regular-season game remaining. The Aggies travel to third-place DeSales University (9-3 MAC Freedom) on Saturday while Eastern hosts fifth-place Wilkes. A DelVal win would clinch the top spot in the standings and home court advantage throughout the MAC Freedom tournament (the Aggies would have the edge on Eastern if they finish tied thanks to a split with DeSales while the Eagles were swept by the Bulldogs). The Aggies could also finish second or third for the four-team playoff depending on Saturday's results.
Kimbrough and Williams were honored along with fellow senior Daniel Paulson prior to the game. The two then dominated the action with Kimbrough's drives to the basket and Williams' dunks. They scored seven points apiece in the opening six minutes to help DelVal take a 16-7 lead. Part of that was a 13-0 run that included a trio of slams from the 6-foot-7 Williams.
The Aggies extended the lead to as many as 14, 31-17, in the opening stanza and took a 39-29 lead into the intermission. They shot 65.2 percent (15-for-23) from the field in the opening 20 minutes as Williams (8-for-9) had 17 points and Kimbrough (5-for-8) added 11. Their defense also held the Eagles to 10-for-31 shooting (32.3 percent) and forced nine turnovers.
Eastern got its deficit down to six three times in the first five minutes of the second half, the last coming on a 3-pointer by Austin Duncan that made it 44-38. DelVal responded with a 10-3 spurt to bump the advantage back up to 13. Later in the half, the Aggies matched their largest lead of the night as they were up 14, 59-45, with 7:38 remaining.
However, shortly after, Kimbrough picked up his fourth foul and he came out of the game. DelVal could not generate its offense and Shaquan Turk had nine points to key an 11-3 Eagle rally that made it a 62-56 ballgame with 3:59 left. Alex Matsinye hit inside for the Aggies, but Turk matched it with a pair of free throws at the other end to maintain the six-point difference just 89 seconds later.
On DelVal's next possession, Matsinye missed a trey but Williams was there for the rebound. He went back up and jammed it home with 1:56 left on the clock. Following an Eastern miss, Mike Cianciulli took a feed from Williams and scored inside for a 10-point lead. Back-to-back layups by Kimbrough and Cianciulli sealed the win and the first-place deadlock.
The Aggies finished the game shooting 54.9 percent from the field (28-for-51). Kimbrough was 10-for-14 and finished with a team-high 23 points. He added four rebounds and three assists. Williams was 9-for-11 from the field and had 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the year. Andre' Butler and Cianciulli notched 11 and 10 points respectively while Matsinye finished with eight points and eight boards.
Turk notched 16 of his team's 31 points in the second half and finished the night with 24 points. He also added five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Lincoln Holley had 12 points while Victor Pena tallied 10 points and seven boards.