DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Delaware Valley men's basketball team saw sharp shooting from
Jordan Gombs,
Godly Marc and
Rasheem Dearry, but failed to overcome a 10-point deficit dropping the contest to Rutgers-Camden 76-65 to end 2023.
Early back-to-back three-pointers from Dearry and
Antonio Redding put the Aggies in a six-point advantage over the Scarlet Raptors, 8-2. DelVal continued to maintain the lead with a layup from Colin Macadams extending the gap to seven, 13-6.
Rutgers-Camden found its grove over the next 4:06 with a 9-2 run shooting 66.67% from the field to tie the game at 15 apiece with 11:04 remaining in the half. The teams traded the lead a few more times over the next three minutes knotting the score at 21-21 before the Scarlet Raptors started on a strong 21-12 run through the final 7:42 shooting 80% from the field and 50% from both beyond the arc and the charity stripe for the 13-point lead to end the half, 40-33.
Dearry started strong after the break for the Aggies sinking the long ball to keep the deficit below double-digits, 43-36. Rutgers-Camden put together a short 6-0 spurt to increase the lead, but Gombs and
Godly Marc were there to answer the call with a 6-4 run to bring the gap down to 11, 49-38. The Scarlet Raptors pulled away by no more than 13 points through the ensuing five minutes with a short 6-2 run from the Aggies bringing the deficit back down to nine, 60-51, with just about nine minutes to play.
Foul trouble for Rutgers-Camden put the Aggies at the line for four shots sinking 3-of-4 while also converting a layup over the next 2:54 to cut the deficit to eight, 64-56. The Scarlet Raptors finished the game with a narrow 12-9 advantage over DelVal to take the 76-65 victory.
Gombs led the Aggies shooting 53.8% for 16 points.
Godly Marc followed close behind with a 66.7% performance from the field for 15 points while Dearry recorded the team's only double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Gombs came close with the second-most rebounds of the afternoon pulling down nine boards.
DelVal returns to action at James Work Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 3 when the team opens conference play against Misericordia at 7 p.m.
