DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Rasheem Dearry led the Aggies with a season-high 24 points as the Delaware Valley men's basketball team defeated Saint Elizabeth 87-69 on Saturday evening improving their record to 2-2.
DelVal got off to an early start with two quick points while holding the Eagles scoreless for two and a half minutes until a three put Saint Elizabeth in a single-point lead. The Aggies persevered with a 4-0 run over the ensuing two minutes ended by another Eagles' three to make it a tied game, 6-6, with 15:31 left in the half. Saint Elizabeth held the 5-2 edge over the next five minutes with Dearry stepping up from the long-range to put the Aggies back in it, 11-11, followed up by a Colin MacAdams layup to put DelVal up 13-11 and force a timeout with 9:32 to play in the half. The Eagles held a slight 11-8 advantage over the next four minutes shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 1-of-1 from the charity stripe. Thanks to sharp shooting from Deary and Tyriq Toney-Bailey the Aggies went 2-of-3 from deep and 2-of-2 from the line to remain in just a single-point deficit, 22-21, with 5:51 left on the clock. DelVal suffered its largest deficit of the game, 30-25, with 4:07 left to play. The Aggies put together a 4-0 run to bring it back within a single point, 30-29, but a shot clock violation put the Eagles back in possession with 2:02 remaining. DelVal held the 6-4 advantage through the final minutes to regain a single-point lead, 35-34, heading into the second half.
The Eagles came out strong with a 5-0 run stuffed by a Deary three-pointer and perfecting shooting from the line to put the Aggies back in the lead, 40-39. The threes continued to fall for Deary and Toney-Bailey, each sinking a long ball to keep DelVal in the lead, 46-45, and force a Saint Elizabeth timeout with 15:31 left to play. Jordan Gombs turned up the heat with back-to-back layups drawing the foul and sinking the free throw to put the Aggies in a 53-48 lead with 12:15 on the clock. The scoring slowed over the next four minutes with each team putting up six points to keep the Aggies in a 59-54 lead. A huge 10-0 run from the Aggies extending over a minute and 38 seconds gave the Aggies their largest lead of the game, 69-54, with 6:47 left to play. A small 5-0 run from the Eagles helped to close the gap, but the Aggies stopped the run and started a 10-4 run stretching over two minutes and 21 seconds for a 17-point lead, 79-63, with 2:24 on the clock. The scoring continued for DelVal who held the 8-4 advantage with six points coming off the 2-of-2 effort of Goddy Marc from beyond the arc, to extend the lead to 20, 87-67, with only a minute remaining to play. DelVal held the Eagles scoreless until a layup at the buzzer for the 87-69 win.
The Aggies next hit the court on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Gwynedd Mercy University, tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
