LANGHORNE (PA)--- The Delaware Valley men's basketball team used a late 17-4 run to overcome a second half deficit to defeat Cairn University 81-73 in a non-conference matchup on Monday.
The Aggies (7-5) started the off the game hot, as Thomas Ibidapo knocked down his second career three pointer followed by a layup off a Godly Marc pass. Pernell Ghee continued the run with a triple of his own, giving DelVal an 8-0 lead just under two minutes into the game. The pace picked up and Cairn (8-4) quickly responded with a 7-2 run over just a 45 second span, trimming the deficit to 9-7.
After teams went back and forth over the next three minutes, the Aggies put together another nice burst, this time outscoring the Highlanders 6-0 to extend their lead to 23-15 with 10:28 left in the first half. Jordan Gombs and Ibidapo started the run with a layup each and Pernell Ghee capped it off with an offensive putback.
After Cairn trimmed the lead to 25-21, Francis Robles-Montas connected from beyond the arc to extend the lead back to seven. The Highlanders trimmed the Aggie lead to one on two different occasions over the final 7:51 of the first half, as DelVal took a 37-36 lead into the break.
The Aggies led for all but 29 seconds of the first half, as the visitors forced Cairn into 12 turnovers while committing just five of their own. The Highlanders were able to keep themselves in the game by outrebounding DelVal 26-18 over the first 20 minutes, as well as knocking down 9-of-12 foul shots compared to just 3-of-9 for the Aggies.
After Godly Marc knocked down two free throws to begin the second half for the Aggies, Wes Murray went on his own 5-0 run for Cairn to give the hosts their first lead of the game at 41-39. Ibidapo tied it up with a layup and Ghee made baskets on each of the next two Aggie possessions to put DelVal back ahead 45-41. Ghee also took charges on back-to-back possessions on the defensive end of the floor. Cairn responded with a 13-5 burst to take their largest lead at 54-50 with 10:48 left. left led by five points from Richard Rosas. The Highlanders were 5-of-10 from the field during the stretch while holding DelVal to just 2-of-4 shooting.
The Aggies would not let the lead grow any larger, as they regained the lead at 57-56 after a 7-2 run that was capped off by two free throws from Matt Paulus. Dashaun Cain converted an and-one to put the Highlanders back in front by two with 8:15 remaining and the Highlanders grew that lead to 61-57. After Paulus again hit two foul shots, Godly Marc came up with his sixth steal and converted it into a layup on the other end to tie the game at 61-61 with 6:14 left.
A Cam Clark layup put Cairn back in front 63-61 on the next possession, starting an 8-3 run to give the hosts their largest lead at 69-64 with 3:18 left. Just 18 seconds later, Paulus came off a Ghee screen and knocked down a three pointer to trim the deficit to 69-67 with 2:55 remaining. On the next possession, Paulus returned the favor to Ghee, finding him on the pick-and-roll to bring the game to a 69-69 tie.
With 1:42 remaining, Paulus split a pair of free throws to put DelVal ahead 70-69. On the next Cairn possession, Marc picked up his seventh steal of the game and finished with a layup with 1:21 left. Just eight seconds later, Ghee came away with a steal and Jordan Gombs finished with an old-fashioned three point player to extend the DelVal lead to 11-0 and push the Aggie lead to 75-69 with 1:06 left. The Aggies would finish the game on a 17-4 run to close out the 81-73 victory.
Despite being outrebounded 50-38, DelVal was able to overcome that by forcing Cairn into 24 turnovers while committing just 14 of their own.
Pernell Ghee led the Aggies with 24 points and 11 rebounds, giving him his third double-double of the season.
Thomas Ibidapo tied for a season-high with 16 points and pulled in nine rebounds.
Matt Paulus scored all of his 12 points in the second half for the Aggies, giving him his eighth game of the season in double figures.
Goldy Marc chipped in 11 points and five assists. He also came away with a season-high seven steals after coming into the game ranked fourth in the country in DIII in that category.
Jordan Gombs was the fifth Aggie in double figures, as he finished with 11 points as well. The first-year tied for a personal career-high with seven rebounds.
The Aggies will be back in action for MAC Freedom play at home against Lycoming on Wednesday, January 5th for an 8 p.m. tip-off.
