DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team nearly erased a 15-point second half deficit, but the comeback effort fell short and visiting Wilkes University came away with a 76-65 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory.

The Aggies (5-12, 1-6 MAC Freedom) fell behind 5-3 in the early going but used an 8-2 run to take a six-point lead, 13-7. Jordan Tucker had a pair of layups and Damian Washington hit a trey to highlight the spurt.

The Colonels (9-9, 2-5 MAC Freedom) clawed back to tie the game at 16-16 and the score was knotted twice more including 22-22 with 7:41 left in the first half. Wilkes closed the stanza with a 16-7 run to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Colonels made 53.8% (14-of-26) of their field goals and went 5-for-11 from beyond the arc in the first stanza. DelVal was 9-for-26 (34.6%) from the field and just 3-for-12 from deep.

The Colonels hit 3-of-4 treys in the first 4:12 of the second half and went on a 13-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, 51-36.

DelVal still trailed by double-digits, 63-52, with under seven minutes to play, but managed to put together an 11-5 run to cut the deficit to five with just 3:40 left on the clock. Tucker had the first five points to spark the burst and then found Francis Robles open behind the arc at the elbow and the freshman knocked down the big 3-pointer to cap the run and make it 68-63.

The rest of the way, Wilkes got a pair of layups and forced the Aggies into two turnovers to ice the game and escape with the 11 point victory.

Tucker led DelVal with a career-high 26 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, and four steals as the junior was 9-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Washington played just 27 minutes after fouling out with 14 minutes left in the second half. He finished with 14 points and three boards. Dwayne Caine, Jr. came off the bench for 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. As a team, the Aggies were 21-for-46 from the field and 5-for-18 from deep.

Wilkes senior Rob Pecorelli led all scorers in the game with 32 points and nine rebounds to go with two assists as he shot 9-for-20 from the field and 6-for-14 from deep. Drake Marshall and Jake Robel each had 15 points off the bench and the Colonels finished the game at an even 50-percent from the field and 8-for-22 from beyond the arc.

DelVal will look to stop the losing skid on Saturday as it welcomes in Stevens Technical Institute for a 3 p.m. tip.