DOYLESTOWN (PA) -- The Delaware Valley College men's basketball team enters the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom tournament as the fourth seed and will travel to take on top-seeded DeSales University in the semifinals on Thursday, February 21. Tip-off inside Billera Hall is set for 8:00 p.m.

The winner of the contest will advance to the MAC Freedom Championship Game on Saturday, February 23 at the site of the highest remaining seed (time TBA) and meet the winner of Thursday's other semifinal game between No. 2 seed Wilkes University and No. 3 seed Eastern University. The winner of the MAC Freedom Championship Game will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.

Third-year head coach Mark Seidenburg leads his squad into the postseason for the second time and in search of his first playoff win. In 2016-17 his team finished 11-3 in conference play to earn the number one seed. DeSales owned the No. 4 seed and came to DelVal for the semifinal game (the squirrel game) and, after a power outage postponed the game by one day, rolled to a 79-57 triumph.  

This is the seventh time the Aggies have made the postseason since 2009 and the fourth time in the last five seasons. They have won the MAC Freedom Championship three times (2011, 2013, 2016) and finished runner-up once.

Thursday will be the fifth time the Aggies (12-13, 8-6 MAC Freedom) and the Bulldogs (19-6, 12-2 MAC Freedom) have met in the postseason, all since 2011. DelVal has won three of the previous four meetings, including a pair of championship game triumphs.

This year, DeSales was victorious in the two regular season meetings. In Doylestown, the Bulldogs took a two-point lead into the break and grew it to double digits early in the second half. The Aggies got to within seven with two minutes left in regulation, but DeSales held them off for the 86-74 final. Tracy Simsick scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulldogs and Lybrant Robinson paced DelVal with 22 points and 10 boards.

Just last Saturday, DeSales got the better of DVU in the regular season finale, 73-61. Sophomore Timmy Edwards led the Bulldogs with 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field and Simsick finished with seven points, seven assists, and three rebounds. The Aggies were without leading scorer Damian Washington, but senior Alex Matsinye stepped up with 17 points and five boards to lead the team and Mike Cianciulli finished with 13 points.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES

DelVal finished the regular season 12-13 overall and 8-6 in conference play. It went 6-7 on its home court and 6-5 in road contests. After a 3-3 start, the Aggies strung together three wins before losing its next six games. They bounced back with wins in their next four, and six of their next seven games, but limped to the finish line with three consecutive losses.

Sophomore forward Damian Washington leads the team with 14.8 points and grabs 6.4 rebounds per game to go with 35 steals and 24 blocks. He is shooting 43.7% from the field and 35.8% from 3-point land. Fellow sophomore Lybrant Robinson follows with 14.5 points per game and adds 4.7 rebounds.

Senior Andre' Butler leads the team on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per showing and is scoring 8.8 points per game. Fellow team captain, and senior, Alex Matsinye is averaging 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds and totaled 52 assists, 33 steals, and 21 blocked shots this year.

Mike Cianciulli has made more treys than anyone on the squad with 42 and is averaging 13 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Damani Myers leads the way with 72 assists this season and is scoring 4.9 points per game.
 
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
 
Head coach Scott Coval and his Bulldogs are making their 17^th appearance in the MAC/Freedom Conference tournament since joining the conference 22 years ago. They are 14-13 all-time in the tournament with championships in 2009, 2010 and 2014.
 
DeSales is 19-6 overall this season (12-2 MAC Freedom), winners of its last four games and seven of its last eight. The Bulldogs are 45-22 against the Aggies all-time and 26-6 at home in those games.  
 
Junior Tracy Simsick is averaging a team-best 15.2 points per game and also adds 3.2 rebounds and is a 44.1% shooter from the field. Defensively, he has blocked 26 shots and grabbed 17 steals.
 
Senior Luke Connaghan is shooting 53.6% from the field and is averaging 12.8 points and 6.5 boards per game. Sophomore Matt Kachelries has shot 46.1% from the field this season to the tune of 11.6 points per game with an average of 6.1 boards.

Fellow sophomore Timmy Edwards came off the bench for a game-high 24 points against the Aggies on Saturday, but is averaging just 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game this season. Another player to watch is junior Alex House who has started every game this season and is averaging 7.8 points per game while shooting 52.3% from the field.

If you cannot make it to the game you can follow along with Live Stats and watch the game for free here.