Box Score WILKES-BARRE (PA) – On a day when its top three scorers combined for just 22 points, Delaware Valley College's fourth (Francis Arnold) and ninth (Zach Sibel) leading scorers teamed for 29 points as the Aggies jumped out to a big lead, got a scare and then pulled away late to a 67-54, Freedom Conference triumph at Wilkes University.

The win was the fourth straight – all in conference play - for Delaware Valley as it improved to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the Freedom. The Aggies remained tied with defending champion Misericordia University for second place in the standings. They are both two games ahead of fourth-place FDU-Florham and three games ahead of fifth-place teams Eastern University and King's College with six games remaining (the top four advance to the conference tournament. DeSales University is undefeated in Freedom play and Delaware Valley hosts the Bulldogs on Wednesday, January 30 (8:00 p.m.).

The trio of Jeremy Beckett, Daulton Derr and Joy Donovan average better than 40 points per outing but the three struggled from the field all day. Beckett went 2-for-7 but was a strong 9-for-12 from the foul line and finished with 13 points. He was strong defensively with 17 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Derr was 2-for-7 and had five points while Donovan was 2-for-8 and ended with four points.

However, Arnold and Sibel were there to pick up the offensive slack as the sophomores combined to go 10-for-18 from the field. Arnold, a transfer who entered the game averaging 8.3 points per contest, finished with career highs of 16 points and seven steals. Meanwhile, Sibel (2.5 avg) came off the bench and was 4-for-7 – all from beyond the arc – and notched 13 points and six assists in just 15 minutes of action. Zach Sly, Delaware Valley's fifth-leading scorer (7.5 avg, also hit double digits in the game with 10 points.

Sibel hit three of his treys in a first half that was dominated by Delaware Valley. Its defense held the Colonels (7-11, 0-8) to just 25 percent shooting (6-for-24) and forced 15 turnovers that led to 20 points at the other end. At one point, the Aggies went on a 26-2 run that turned an early 8-6 deficit into a 32-10 advantage with 4:14 remaining. The lead ballooned to as many as 23 before they took a 35-16 advantage into the break.

The Colonels turned it around to start the second half and scored 27 of the first 40 points to trail by just five, 48-43, at the midway point. Tyler Breznitsky had 14 of Wilkes' points in the spurt, including a trio of 3-pointers.

The Colonels hung around until an 11-4 Aggie run made it a 14-point contest and Wilkes never got back to within single digits. Arnold and Sibel ended the spurt with a layup and a 3-pointer respectively.

Breznitsky led all scorers with 19 points, including a 4-for-6 effort from 3-point land. Alex Wizar notched nine points in the loss.