CENTER VALLEY (PA) – DeSales University outscored Delaware Valley College, 50-26, in the second half as the defending Freedom Conference champions rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit and notched a 77-61 home victory.

The Bulldogs improved to 16-5 overall and 9-1 in the league while the Aggies fell to 10-10 overall, 4-6 and tied with Manhattanville College and Wilkes University for fifth place in the standings. They are a game and a half behind Misericordia University for the fourth and final playoff spot with four games remaining.

Delaware Valley used a 20-4 run in a seven-minute span in the first half to turn an 18-13 deficit into a 33-22 advantage with 2:10 remaining. Six different Aggies scored in the spurt and they eventually took a 35-27 lead into the break.

Delaware Valley was still up three, 49-46, after Jeremy Beckett hit a jumper with 13:48 remaining. However, it was all DeSales the rest of the way as it scored 31 of the game's final 43 points. The Bulldogs did so by shooting better than 63 percent from the field and were 17-for-21 from the foul line for the second half, including 16-for-20 over the final 13 minutes.

Five players reached double figures for DeSales, including Darnell Braswell's 14 points. Jim Malatesta and Bob Zannero had 13 points apiece while Matt Zwetolitz and Brian Hunter had 11 and 10 points respectively.

James Jones paced the Aggies with 19 points while Darnell White contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Jon Evans came off the bench and finished with eight points in the loss.