DOYLESTOWN (Pa.) – Senior Thomas Ibidapo scored a career-high 20 points off the bench including 16 in the first half to lead the Delaware Valley University men's basketball team past Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom frontrunner DeSales University, 75-67, in front of a packed James Work Gymnasium.
It was the final MAC Freedom game of the season for the Aggies who finish with a league mark of 10-6 (14-9 overall). The win puts DelVal in position to earn fourth place and a home playoff game. The Aggies are currently tied with Lycoming College, which has one league game remaining against DeSales on Saturday. If the Warriors lose to the Bulldogs, DelVal will finish fourth and host Lycoming in the first round of the playoffs. If Lycoming beats DeSales, DelVal will finish fifth and travel to either Lycoming or Arcadia.
The Bulldogs last lead of the night came 4:25 into regulation after Timmy Edwards converted an and-1 in the paint to make it a 12-10 game. The Aggies responded with the next seven points sparked by a put-back layup by Ibidapo and capped by a 3-pointer by Ryan Black, and they did not look back the rest of the way.
DeSales pulled even with DelVal on two different occasions before the end of the half, but each time Ibidapo had an answer for the Aggies. After the Bulldogs knotted the score at 21-21 with 9:05 left, Ibidapo scored five straight with another offensive rebound and put-back and a rare trey from straight away. Then with 3:16 on the first half clock, Edwards tied the game at 31 apiece before Ibidapo banked in his second 3-pointer of the half.
Just before the first half buzzer, with DelVal holding a one-point lead, Godly Marc went end-to-end in less than four seconds and laid one in to give the home team a 36-33 lead at the break.
The Aggies held a seven-point lead, 52-45, with 11:42 left in regulation before DeSales hit four-straight free throws, including three from Kalcheries who was fouled while shooting a trey, to pull within three. DelVal responded again with a 7-0 run that included a layup by Ewens Lizima, a 3-pointer from Paulus, and a mid-range jumper by Ibidapo that gave the home team its largest lead of the night, 59-49.
The Bulldogs pulled to within three with under five minutes to play, but a quick trey from Marc and a crowd-rocking dunk from Ibidapo quickly got it back to an eight-point game with 2:32 remaining. Down the stretch, DelVal went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and never let DeSales closer than six points of the lead as it secured the big 75-67 victory.
Ibidapo added six rebounds and an assist to his career high 20 point night in which he shot 9-for-12 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Ghee and Marc finished with 15 points apiece and combined for seven rebounds. Marc added two steals and two assists. Paulus added 10 points, three assists, and two steals, and Ryan Black hit two treys to reach seven points off the bench.
As a team, the Aggies shot 47.5-percent (29-for-61 from the field and 43.5-percent (10-for-23) from deep with 35 rebounds and 12 turnovers.
Timmy Edwards led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting with 14 rebounds and four assists. Matt Kachelries finished with 17 points and three assists. DeSales shot 25-for-65 (38.5%) from the field and just 3-for-18 (16.7%) from deep with 40 rebounds and 12 turnovers.
The Aggies will conclude the regular season on Saturday with a non-conference contest at home against Cheyney University. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. with a special senior day ceremony before the contest.
