DOYLESTOWN (Pa.)--- The Delaware Valley men's basketball team rode a three game winning streak into Wednesday night's home Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom matchup against Arcadia, but were outscored by 12 in the second half, as the Knights came away with a 74-63 victory.
Over the first seven and a half minutes of the game, neither team held more than a one possession lead. Arcadia (10-10, 6-6) was first to do so after a small 5-0 run put them ahead 15-11 with 12:15 left in the half. That lead grew to 18-12 before DelVal (10-10, 5-6) rattled off a 9-2 run that included five points from Casey Caruso and a basket from each Jordan Gombs and Zoelin Pair to give the Aggies a 21-20 lead with 6:34 left.
Arcadia grabbed the lead right back and led 27-23. For the remainder of the half, the game remained a one-possession contest. Jordan Gombs capped off a 15 point first half with an and-one, the final basket of the half, putting DelVal ahead 36-35 at the break.
The Knights wasted no time jumping back in front with an and-one basket from Justin Money just 42 seconds in. Jalen Watkins and Dom Vazquez followed up with bucket of their own, capping off a 7-0 in the first 1:38 to lead 42-36. Arcadia kept their foot on the gas while the Aggies continued to struggle from the field, as the Knights grew their lead to 51-39 with 14:21 to play. Over the first 5:39 of the second half, Arcadia outscored Delval 16-3.
DelVal fought back, and trimmed the lead to 54-50 with 10:39 left. During the 11-3 run, four different Aggies scored with Goddy Marc capping off the run with a three pointer. Over the next two minutes, the Aggies trimmed the lead to four on multiple occasions, but could never get it to three points or less. With Arcadia leading by four with 3:19 left, Arcadia hit three straight free throws follow by a Jalen Watkins dunk to pull away.
Jordan Gombs led all scorers with a season-high 19 points with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Godly Marc was the only other Aggie in double figures with ten points.
Arcadia placed five scores in double figures, led by 17 points from Justin Money. Jalen Watkins added 16 and pulled down 19 rebounds.
For the game, Arcadia shot 43% while holding the Aggies to just 33%.
The Aggies now sit in a three-way tie for the fifth and final playoff spot with Misericordia and Wilkes. DelVal's next game is Saturday, February 4th at Lycoming at 3 p.m.
