Box Score PURCHASE (NY) – Delaware Valley College jumped out to a 19-point, first-half lead on the road and then had to hold on at the end for a 63-58 triumph over Manhattanville College in a key Freedom Conference game.

The teams entered the game with identical 8-7 overall records and, more importantly, 2-2 marks in conference action. The win kept the Aggies tied for third in the early going (nine Freedom games left) and one game behind second-place and defending Freedom champion Misericordia University. Delaware Valley will host the Cougars on Saturday.

The Aggies shot 63 percent from the field (17-for-27), including a 5-for-9 effort from 3-point land, in the opening half. Up one midway through the stanza, they scored 11 straight to take a 27-15 lead. The Valiants ended the run with a 3-pointer, but Delaware Valley countered with nine points in a row to up its advantage to 34-18 with 5:02 remaining. It built the lead to 46-27 before Manhattanville hit a trey in the closing seconds to make it a 16-point game. Eight different players hit the scoring column for the Aggies, including Nick Sullivan's team-high 12 points.

The second half was a different story as the Aggies connected on just seven of 28 attempts (25%) from the field (25%) and were just 1-for-7 (14.3%) from beyond the arc as they managed just 17 points in the stanza.

The Valiants started the second half by scoring 17 of the first 23 points to pull to within five, 52-47, with 9:17 remaining. They then made it a two-point on a pair of occasions, the last coming on a pair of free throws by Anthony Maestre with 2:40 left on the clock.

Delaware Valley missed at the other end and Manhattanville had the ball with a chance to tie or take its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest. However, Daulton Derr stole a pass with 1:57 to go and, 20 second later, Jay Donovan drilled the team's lone trey of the half, for a 61-56 advantage. Both teams missed on chances for more than a minute before Colin Campbell hit a layup for the Valiants with five seconds to go. Derr was fouled with two ticks left and the senior calmly hit two free throws to wrap it up.

Donovan was one of four Aggies to reach double figures in scoring as he netted a game-high 15 points. Sullivan had all of his 12 points in the opening half while Derr and Jeremy Beckett finished with 11 points apiece.

Jack Bramwig notched 12 points and 12 rebounds for Manhattanville while Campbell added 11 points and six boards.