DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – The Delaware Valley University men's basketball team played its first game since the end of the first semester and earned a wire-to-wire non-conference victory over visiting Rosemont College, 77-67.
The Aggies (7-5) made 6-of-7 field goals to start the game including two from beyond the arc to race out to a 16-4 lead five minutes into the game. DelVal force three turnovers and grabbed two steals to help the run.
The first half lead grew to 15 after Tyriq Toney-Bailey hit his second three of the half to make it 24-9 with 12:34 left in the first.
The Ravens (2-8) put together a 10-2 run over the next five minutes by converting five straight field goals to cut the deficit to 26-19. Forward Jared White led the spurt with a pair of layups and a breakaway dunk.
Senior Francis Robles-Montas hit a corner three to stop the Rosemont run and spark an 11-0 counter by the Aggies. Tremaine Kynard added a traditional trey and Ewens Lizima converted three the old-fashioned way to lift DelVal in the spurt.
The home team took a 40-26 lead into the break after shooting 43.8% (14-32) from the field and converting 6-of-16 treys. The Aggies held the Ravens to 35.5% (11-31) shooting from the field and 11.1% (1-9) shooting from deep.
An 8-1 run by Rosemont early in the second half cut DelVal's lead to seven, 43-36, with 16:09 to play in the first. The Aggies missed five-straight three's in that stretch and the Ravens went 4-for-5 from the field down the other end.
Lizima grabbed a defensive rebound and quickly pushed the ball up-court to Goddy Marc for a 3-pointer to end the fun and get the DelVal lead back to 10 with 15:22 on the clock. Later in the half, Jordan Gombs and Kynard led the Aggies on a 9-2 run to extend the advantage to 15, 57-42, with under 10 to play. Gombs converted a layup followed by an and-1 play, and Kynard added a furious baseline dunk.
DelVal led 70-50 before Rosemont scored nine straight points to make it an 11-point game with 4:14 left in regulation. Justin Savage scored the next four points for the Aggies and Gombs found Lizima open under the rim after a steal to get the lead back to 15 and ultimately put the game away. A pair of late layups by Mike Herrin resulted in the 77-67 final.
The Aggies held off a Rosemont team that shot 56.7% (17-30) from the field in the second half and 45.9% (28-61) from the field. Meanwhile, DelVal finished the game shooting 41.9% (26-62) from the field and hit eight shots from beyond the arc. The Aggies won the turnover battle, 26-23, and outrebounded the visitors, 40-32, for the game.
Savage led DelVal with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting while Gombs finished with nine rebounds, eight points, five assists and four steals. He also took a pair of charges on the defensive end. Toney-Bailey poured in three three's and finished with 14 points and Godly Marc added 12 points, four assists and three steals.
Zaire Mitchell led Rosemont with 18 points and nine rebounds and Jared White had 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists.
The Aggies will take to the road for the next two games beginning with a non-conference affair at Susquehanna on Tuesday, January 3rd at 7 p.m.
