ST. DAVIDS (PA) – Delaware Valley College moved into a tie for the fifth and final Freedom Conference playoff spot thanks to a hard-fought, 74-68 victory at Eastern University.

With the win, rookie head coach Casey Stitzel and the Aggies continued their amazing turnaround story. Stitzel took over a team that went 3-22 (0-14 Freedom) last season, but they have now improved to 10-11 overall for the just the second double-digit win season in the last 11 years and the third in the last 21 campaigns. More importantly, they are now 6-7 and tied with idle Alvernia University in conference play with three league contests remaining. Delaware Valley will host defending champion King's College on Saturday while Alvernia travels to Wilkes University.

The Aggies led throughout most of the first half, but the Eagles (14-8, 8-6) took a one-point lead with 2:14 remaining. Neither team could manage a point until right before the buzzer when Jon Evans hit a jumper for a 32-31 Delaware Valley advantage.

The Aggies never squandered the lead in the second half and were ahead by as many as 11, 67-56, with 5:49 remaining. Eastern scored nine straight to make it a two-point contest with under three minutes remaining and the Eagles were still down two, 68-66, with 52 ticks left on the clock.

Delaware Valley ran the shot clock down to 10 when freshman Mike Williams drove to the hoop and scored for a four-point lead. Fellow rookie Chris Mayo then stole the ball and Jason Seipt was fouled with 20 seconds to go. The senior calmly hit two free throws for a 72-66 Aggie lead. Eastern's Jason Reels cut into that with a layup with seven seconds remaining, but sophomore Jason Goldhimer sealed the game with a pair of free throws three seconds later.

Delaware Valley had four players in double figures, led by James Jones' 17 points. Williams notched 16 points and nine rebounds while Seipt added 15 points. Evans came off the bench to pour in 11 points in the win.

Tyrone Coleman had a game-high 19 points for the Eagles. Reels finished with 15 points while Derek Wright and Tyrik Tucker added 11 and 10 points respectively.