CENTER VALLEY (PA) – For the second time this season, four-time defending Freedom Conference champion DeSales University defeated Delaware Valley College in the final moments, this one on a pair of free throws by Sondrine Glovas with seventh-tenths of a second remaining for a 64-62 triumph.
DeSales improved to 11-9 overall, 6-3 and tied for third place in the Freedom. The Aggies fell to 12-8 overall and 3-6 in the conference.
Just 18 days ago, the Bulldogs went the length of the court and Alexiah Grant hit a running layup as the buzzer sounded for a 76-74 victory in Doylestown. They were in a similar situation on Wednesday evening as they inbounded the ball from underneath their own basket with 3.9 seconds remaining. The inbounds pass went to Hannah Smith near midcourt. She dribbled to the 3-point line and dished off to Glovas in the left corner. Glovas let the shot go off and missed, but she was fouled in the process with 0.7 showing on the clock. She hit both free throws for the 64-62 advantage. After a timeout, Delaware Valley could not get a shot off before the buzzer and DeSales had the victory.
The game featured eight ties and 12 lead changes. Delaware Valley used a 10-4 run in the final four-plus minutes of the first half to take a 32-27 advantage. Four different players scored in the spurt for the Aggies, including Emily Soper who had 14 points in the opening stanza.
Delaware Valley hit the opening bucket of the second half for a seven-point advantage. DeSales battled back and took a 45-44 lead before a 10-2 spurt by the Aggies gave the visitors another seven-point lead. Brittany Battinieri notched eight of the 10, including a pair of treys.
The Bulldogs responded with nine straight to regain the lead with 6:29 to go. The teams were then tied on two occasions over the next minute before a Soper layup put Delaware Valley ahead. Cherelle Simmons hit one free throw for DeSales, but the Aggies' Brenna Coll responded with a layup with 3:30 remaining for a 62-59 score.
Glovas hit one foul shot 14 seconds later and neither team scored for nearly three full minutes. Delaware Valley had two golden chances to extend their lead with less than a minute remaining, but Battinieri and Shannon Barlow failed to hit the front end of their one-in-one opportunities from the foul line.
Simmons tied the game with a jumper in the paint with 30 ticks on the clock. Delaware Valley had the ball with the shot clock off, but it turned it over on a jump ball situation (possession arrow favored DeSales) near the Bulldog basket with 3.9 seconds remaining. That set the stage for DeSales' last-second heroics.
Glovas led the Bulldgos with 17 points while Grant and Colleen Gavin had 13 and 12 points respectively.
Soper led all players with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Battinieri finished with 12 points and five assists while Coll had 12 points and six rebounds before fouling out. Grace Mirack hit double digits with 10 points.