DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team put a bow on the 2021 regular season with its third win in the last four games as it held visiting Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom foe FDU-Florham to just one point over the final 8:40 of regulation to earn a 64-49 victory.
Pernell Ghee opened the scoring with an and-1 layup in transition after Matt Paulus picked off a pass and sprung him the other way.
FDU-Florham hit five of its first seven 3-pointers to start the game and led by as many as nine, 16-13, in the early going.
Head Coach Mark Seidenburg employed a full-court press and his team held the Devils scoreless for a stretch of seven minutes. During that span the Aggies used a 12-0 run to pull ahead, 25-24, with less than five minutes left in the first half. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the half and DelVal maintained a one-point, 32-31, lead going into the second.
The Aggies had 15 points off 11 FDU turnovers and they committed just three turnovers that the visitors got zero points from.
The Devils started the half with a 13-6 run over the first 6:48 of play behind 10 points from big man Matthew Johnson to take a 44-38 lead.
DelVal battled back and a big trey from Paulus with the shot clock winding down put the Aggies back on top by two, 46-44, midway through the second half.
FDU regained the lead after an Oliver Ortman layup made it 48-46 with 8:40 on the clock. The rest of the way, DelVal's stingy defense allowed just one point as it closed the game with a 18-1 run to secure its third-straight victory and second over the Devils.
In the second half, DelVal held the Devils to to 7-of-28 (25%) shooting from the field and just 3-for-16 (18.8%) from beyond the arc.
The Aggies shot 21-for-44 (41.7%) from the field and 18-for-22 (81.8%) from the free throw line for the game while the defense forced 16 turnovers and grabbed 30 rebounds to FDU's 26. The Devils finished the game around 35-percent from the field and 11 of their 17 field goals were 3-pointers as they got to the line just eight times and shot 50-percent.
Junior Nestor Diaz led DelVal with a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field to go with three assists and four rebounds. Paulus added 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals and Ghee recorded a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards. Gombs also had 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and three steals.
Johnson led all scorers in the game with 16 points for FDU and Oliver Ortman followed with 13 to go with four assists.
The Aggies finished the regular season winners of two in a row and three of the last four and will await the opponent for their one postseason game against a member of the MAC Commonwealth.
