Box Score DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Seniors Francis Arnold and Nick Sullivan combined for 11 3-pointers and 48 points as the duo led second-seeded Delaware Valley College to the Freedom Conference Championship Game for the third time in the last five years with an 83-67 semifinal triumph over third-seeded DeSales University.
 
The Aggies improved to 16-10 overall and will now travel to Dallas, Pennsylvania to take on top-seeded Misericordia University (20-6) in Saturday's title contest (2:00 p.m.). The Cougars survived an upset bid from King's College and pulled out a 57-52 overtime win in the other semifinal match-up. Misericordia swept the Aggies in the regular-season but needed a last-second 3-pointer to win in Doylestown (70-69) and one to force overtime in an eventual win at home (72-63).
 
Wednesday's win continued the miraculous turnaround that head coach Casey Stitzel has led in his seven years as head coach at Delaware Valley. The season before he arrived, the Aggies went 3-22 and were winless in conference play. Since then, they have won 96 games with four Freedom tournament berths (the team had one in its first 60 years of competition), two conference championships and two NCAA Division III playoff appearances. The win over DeSales improved the team to 4-0 in home playoff games and they are 5-1 in the conference postseason under Stitzel.
 
Arnold and Sullivan were two key reasons why as their 3-point shooting had a packed gym in a frenzy all night. Arnold was 5-for-9 from 3-point land and the 2014 all-region guard finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in 34 minutes of action. Sullivan, meanwhile, hit six of eight attempts from beyond the arc and ended the night with 20 points. They had 11 of the team's 13 treys as the squad was 13-for-25 (52 percent) from downtown.
 
DeSales, which fell to 17-9 on the season and will await word on Monday on an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) postseason bid, led twice in the opening 90 seconds, including when Cody Deal sank a 3-pointer with 18:35 remaining to make it 5-2.
 
It was all Aggies from there as they sprinted out on an 18-2 run over the next six plus minutes to take a 20-7 lead. Zach Sly had the first five points, including a 3-pointer, and Sullivan hit a trio of 3-pointers. Manny Ochenje and Chris Moran added layups in the spurt.
 
The Bulldogs scored six straight, but Delaware Valley countered with seven in a row with four different players scoring in that run. DeSales got its deficit down to nine points two times in the first half, but the Aggies, behind 55.6 percent shooting from the field (53.8 percent from 3-point land), took a 41-30 lead into the intermission.
 
Delaware Valley upped its advantage to as many as 17 as Sullivan drained a bomb to make it 53-36 with 12:35 remaining. The lead stayed between 12 and 16 points for the next eight minutes until a Brian Laird 3-pointer after a second straight Aggie turnover made it a 65-56 game with four minutes left.
 
Zach Sly hit two free throws and Arnold followed with a 3-pointer to build the lead back up to 14, but DeSales made one last gasp and scored eight straight to get to within six, 70-64 with 2:34 remaining. Laird hit a short jumper to start the Bulldog run while Kuity Slanger had a three-point play and then a trey.
 
Delaware Valley came down the court and swung the ball all around until Arnold got it wide open in the right corner. He hit nothing but net for his fifth and final 3-pointer and a 73-64 lead just 17 seconds after Slanger's trey.
 
DeSales turned the ball over on its next possessions and Arnold hit four straight free throws to up the advantage to 13. Zach Sibel followed with three of four from the line for a 16-point lead before Derek Dalition hit a bomb for the Bulldogs' final points of the night with 1:10 left on the clock. Moran added two free throws and Arnold hit one for the 82-67 final.
 
Delaware Valley finished 24-for-52 (46.2 percent) from the field, including the 13-for-25 effort from 3-point land. The Aggies were also 22-for-26 (84.6 percent) from the foul line. In addition to Arnold and Sullivan's heroics, Moran finished with 11 points while Ochenje had 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Sly added seven points and four assists in the win.
 
DeSales was 25-for-57 (43.9 percent) from the field, including a 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) showing from beyond the arc. Deal had 16 points and eight rebounds while Slanger added 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Dalition and Callahan came off the bench to score 12 and 11 points respectively.