Delaware Valley men's basketball used a 16-3 run in the middle of the second half to help them pick up a 71-65 victory over Penn State-Harrisburg in the championship game of the Rinso Marquette Invitational at Lebanon Valley. Pernell Ghee was tournament MVP and Godly Marc was named to the all-tournament team for the Aggies.
The teams exchanged leads four times over the first three minutes of the game before being tied 6-6. The Aggies (2-2) put together a 7-2 run over the next 1:34 to take the biggest lead in the early going at 13-8 with 15:15 left in the first half. During the first 4:45, DelVal took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line, going 7-8 while shooting 3-4 from the field. PSU-Harrisburg (3-1), who was a 2019 NCAA tournament team, answered with their biggest run, rattling off nine consecutive points to take a 17-13 lead with 11:58 left in the half.
With the score tied 19-19, Godly Marc knocked down a three pointer to put the Aggies back in front with 6:18 remaining in the half. The Aggies would hold the lead the remainder of the half, taking a 30-25 lead into the break.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first 20 minutes, as the Aggies shot 10-28 (36%) with the Nittany Lions going 11-28 (39%). There was a major discrepancy at the foul line, as DelVal shot 8-14 while PSU-Harrisburg went just 1-2. Each team was sloppy with the ball, as the Nittany Lions committed 14 turnovers and the Aggies turned over the rock 12 times.
PSU-Harrisburg came out of halftime with a nice stretch, connecting on three of their first four shots. A Zegary Scott III layup capped off a 6-0 run in the first 1:11 of the second stanza to give the Nittany Lions a 31-30 lead. Pernell Ghee, who exploded for 16 second half points, got the Aggies their first basket of the second half to put the Aggies back in front 32-31. That bucket started an 8-0 burst, as Jordan Gombs followed with a layup and Ghee connected on two more field goal attempts to give the Aggies their largest lead of the game at 38-31 with 15:45 remaining.
PSU-Harrisburg brought the deficit back to two at 40-38 with 13:32 left after a 7-2 run which saw them go 3-3 from the field during a 1:49 stretch. That two point deficit was the closest the Nittany Lions would get for the remainder of the game, as the Aggies rattled off 16-3 run over the next 6:06 to balloon their advantage to 56-41. Pernell Ghee scored ten of those 16 points, as DelVal shot 5-8 from the field and 6-7 from the charity stripe. PSU went just 1-8 during that time and only scored on a Brandon Coleman three pointer.
Jordan Gombs connected from beyond the arc to give the Aggies their largest lead at 62-45 with 5:21 left, but the Nittanty Lions would slowly make things interesting from there. They would shrink the lead down to 67-61 with 1:37 left after a 16-5 burst that saw them go 5-7 from the field and 6-9 from the free throw line. Godly Marc knocked down two free throws on the other end to expand the lead back to eight with 1:21 left. The Nittany Lions knocked down four consecutive foul shots to trail 69-65 with 47 seconds left. Nestor Diaz then missed two free throws for the Aggies, giving the Nittany Lions a chance to make it a one possession game, but Diaz would corral a rebound after a missed shot and Matt Paulus, who was a perfect 6-6 from the foul line, would ice the game with two free throws with 15 seconds left to secure the 71-65 victory.
Tournament MVP Pernell Ghee recorded his second consecutive double-double, posting a team-high 23 points on 9-14 shooting and 12 rebounds. Godly Marc, who was named to the all-tournament team, was second on the team in scoring with 17 points including 4-8 from the field and 8-12 from the free throw line. He also added six assists and six steals. After combining for just eight points in the first three games, Jordan Gombs scored 13 points for DelVal, the third Aggie in double figures.
DelVal shot 44 percent from the field while PSU-Harrisburg shot 43 percent. The difference was at the foul line, where the Aggies went 24-39, while the Nittany Lions shot 13-20. DelVal assisted on 14 of their 22 made shots and led for just under 29 minutes in the game.
DelVal is back in action for a non-conference matchup at Moravian University on Tuesday, November 16th for a 7PM tip-off.
