DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team made a late push, but could not overcome an early 13-0 deficit as visiting Lycoming College escaped with a 97-88 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory.
The Warriors improved to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in MAC Freedom play whiled the Aggies dropped to 7-6 and 2-3.
DelVal was held without a bucket over the first 4:43 of regulation. Meanwhile, Lycoming could not miss as it went 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from deep to open up the 13-point advantage. The Warriors lead grew to as many as 17 midway through the first stanza.
From there, the Aggies put together an 8-0 run over the next 3:17 with baskets from four different players to make it a 25-16 game with just under seven minutes left in the half.
Lycoming quickly regained its 10-point advantage and went into the halftime break with a 47-33 lead. The Warriors shot 65.5% (19-for-29) from the field and 50% (7-for-14) from 3-point land while DelVal was held to under 40% shooting from the field and under 20% from deep in the first.
In the second half, the Aggies got back to within single digits with a quick 7-0 spurt that took just 1:23 of game time and made it a 54-45 game with 15:19 to play. Once again, Lycoming countered with a 10-2 run of its own over the next two minutes to regain a 17-point advantage.
Trailing by 20 with 5:26 left in regulation, DelVal made one last push as it pieced together a 25-11 run over the next five minutes to pull within eight, 92-84, with 33 seconds on the clock. The Warriors mad 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to close the game and earn the 97-88 victory.
Lycoming finished the game 33-of-54 (61.1%) from the field and 10-of-21 (47.6%) from deep with a 70% mark from the charity stripe. Mo Terry had a game-high 24 points to go with nine rebounds and Dyson Harward finished with a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds. Matt Ilodigwe dished out eight assists with 14 points and three rebounds.
The Aggies finished the game 34-76 from the field, as a team, and 7-for-24 from beyond the arc. Defensively, the squad forced Lycoming into 27 turnovers and converted 30 points off of them. The Warriors won the rebound battle, 44-26.
Pernell Ghee and Godly March each had 19 points to lead DelVal and Matt Paulus finished with 18. Ghee added a team-high nine rebounds and five steals.
The Aggies will look to bounce-back with a MAC Freedom contest at Wilkes University on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
