LANCASTER (PA) – Freshman Lybrant Robinson's three-point play with 39 seconds left gave Delaware Valley University helped lift the Aggies to a 75-72 victory over Hartwick College in the opening round of the Sponaugle New Year's Tournament at Franklin & Marshall College.
The triumph lifted the Aggies to 2-8 on the season. They will now play the winner of the F&M/Randolph contest in the tournament's championship game on Saturday, December 30 (4 p.m.). Hartwick fell to 3-5.
DelVal was down one, but forced a turnover as Joe Russell intercepted a pass in his own end. He got the ball to Robinson, who drove hard to the basket and scored while being fouled. The rookie sank the ensuing free throw for a 73-71 lead.
The Hawks came back down and Justin Carruthers was fouled after an offensive rebound with 16.7 seconds to go. He hit the first free throw, but missed the second and they quickly fouled DelVal's Andre' Butler. Butler hit both ends of a one-and-one to push the lead up to three.
Following a pair of timeouts, the Aggies forced Hartwick into a tough game-tying attempt and Corey Baker's shot caromed off the front of the rim to give DelVal the win.
The Hawks came out flying and scored 17 of the game's first 24 points for an early 10-point advantage. The Aggies responded with a 9-0 run as Brandon Curry, Robinson and Austin Stoeckel each sank shots from 3-point land.
Five minutes later, DelVal took its first lead on a trey by Robinson and it built the advantage to as many as six. Hartwick came roaring back and eventually took a 36-35 lead into halftime as the Hawks overcame the Aggies' seven 3-pointers by going 11-for-14 from the foul line (DelVal was just 2-for-2 from the line in the first half).
Hartwick built its lead to as many as eight on four separate occasions in the second stanza. The Aggies did pull to within one on a Willie Britton layup with 7:18 remaining, but the Hawks bumped it back up to five.
Alex Matsinye hit back-to-back layups for DelVal to make it a 68-57 contest with 2:38 remaining. The Aggies then took their first lead of the half 52 seconds later when Russel hit a pair of free throws. Baker drilled a trey for Hartwick on the ensuing possession, but Matsinye got one back with a free throw with 51 seconds left. That pulled DelVal to within one at 71-70 and set the stage for Robinson's three-point play.
Robinson finished with four treys and a team-high 15 points off the bench. Matsinye was plagued by foul trouble, but still managed 14 points in 19 minutes of action. Butler had nine points and nine rebounds while Russell had four points and nine boards. Austin Chabot, a transfer over the break, came off the bench to score 10 points in his Aggie debut.
Kevin Townes led Hartwick with 18 points while Baker had 15 points, all on treys.