Delaware Valley men's basketball head coach Muhamadou Kaba earned his first career head coaching win after the Aggies used a 21-7 run to end the game to pick up a 83-73 victory at Lebanon Valley.
The first half was a back and forth battle, as the game saw eight lead changes over the first 12:54, with the largest lead over that span being a Lebanon Valley (0-2) four point lead on two different occasions. With the Dutchmen holding a 16-12 advantage, Pernell Ghee connected from long range to bring the Aggies (1-2) to within one. On the next defensive possession, Ghee came away with a steal and finished with a layup moments later to put DelVal in front 17-16. A Richard Thomas bucket would cap off a 7-0 Aggie run to extend their lead to 19-16.
The Dutchmen would respond with their biggest run of the half, as the hosts outscored the Aggies 16-4 over a 6:35 span to take their largest lead at 32-23. A Colin Jones steal and dunk on the other end capped off the Dutchmen spurt. Over that stretch, Lebanon Valley shot 6-12 from the field with Jones contributing seven points. The Aggies went 2-8 and played their sloppiest stretch of the first 20 minutes by committing six turnovers.
Delaware Valley stopped the bleeding with two Ghee free throws with 2:13 left in the half to cut the lead to seven. Just over a minute later, Ryan Black knocked down a three pointer and then connected on two free throws with 40 seconds left to cap off a 7-0 run to bring the deficit to 32-30. The Dutchmen made three free throws to close out the half and take a 35-30 lead into the break.
Despite being down five, DelVal shot 10-22 (46%) from the field compared to 12-32 (38%) for Lebanon Valley. The Aggies hurt themselves by turning over the ball 12 times in the first 20 minutes and allowing seven offensive rebounds.
Matt Paulus opened the second half by knocking down a jumper to bring the Aggies to within three. Over the next 4:23, Lebanon Valley kept their lead by at least four points and led by as many as seven on two different occasions.
After a Jordan Gombs triple cut the lead to 47-43, Zach Tucker scored five straight for Lebanon Valley after a three pointer and two made free throws to match the largest lead of the game for the Dutchmen at nine, 52-43, with 14:26 remaining.
After the teams exchanged three pointers, DelVal cut into the lead with a Godly Marc layup, followed by baskets from Ghee and Paulus to string together a mini 6-0 run to bring the Aggies to within three at 55-52.
Lebanon Valley would keep a grasp on the lead however, as Colin Jones answered with a jumper to extend the cushion back to five with 10:09 to play. The Dutchmen would hold that lead and grow it to six over the next 1:39 to lead 62-56 with 8:31 to play.
Ryan Black brought the game to one possession at 62-59 after connecting on one of his three triples of the game. Zach Tucker hit a jump shot on the other end for Lebanon Valley to bring the lead back to five, but Godly Marc responded with a three pointer to cut the deficit to 64-62 with 7:13 left, the closest the game had been since the Aggies trailed 32-30 with 40 seconds left in the first half.
Payton Lewis would briefly put Lebanon Valley back up by four with 6:25 left, but it would be the only Dutchmen points over the next 3:47 as DelVal took control of the game.
Pernell Ghee started a big run for the Aggies by connecting from long range off a Godly Marc assist to bring the Aggies to within one at 66-65 with 6:05 left. Neither team would score over the next two minutes until Thomas Ibidapo made just his second bucket of the game, but it was the biggest one for the Aggies, as it gave them their first lead of the second half and first lead of the game since they lead 23-22 with 5:52 remaining in the first half. Ibidapo came through on the other end with another huge play, blocking a Jevon Griffin layup, which led to an Edward Jones fast-break bucket to make it 69-66 Aggies with 3:42 left.
The run would continue for the Aggies, as they forced Lebanon Valley into a missed shot and Godly Marc connected from downtown on the other end to cap off a 10-0 run and give DelVal their largest lead of the game, 72-66, with 3:06 left.
Evan Timochenko brought the Dutchmen back to within four after a layup with 2:41 left, but the Aggies immediately began an 8-0 run with back-to-back old-fashioned three point plays by Ghee. Marc capped off the run with a layup of his own to give DelVal their largest lead at 80-68 with 1:01 left. The layup also finished off an 18-2 run from the 6:05 to 1:02 mark and was part of a 21-7 burst to finish off the game.
Pernell Ghee led the way for the Aggies with a monster night of 27 points on 9-12 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds. Godly Marc finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four steals. Matt Paulus poured in 13 points for DelVal, while Ryan Black contributed 11.
DelVal shot a scorching 19-32 (59%) in the second half, 29-54 (54%) overall and went 11-22 (50%) from long range for the game. The Aggies had nine different scorers in the game, with 59 of their 83 points coming off the bench.
Delaware Valley will be right back in action as they take on Penn State-Harrisburg tomorrow at 3pm at Lebanon Valley in the final game of the Rinso Marquette Invitational.
