MADISON (Nj.) – The defense of the Delaware Valley University men's basketball team grabbed 14 steals and held host FDU-Florham to just 17 field goals, including no 3-pointers, as the Aggies never trailed and cruised to a 69-46 victory.
The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom triumph moves DVU to 7-8 in league play (12-12 overall) with one game to go. The Aggies sit in a three-way tie for the fifth and final playoff spot with Wilkes and Misericordia.
DelVal and Wilkes will do battle in the season finale this Saturday, while the Cougars host FDU-Florham at the same – 3 p.m., Saturday. After tiebreakers, there is only one path for the Aggies to reach the postseason. They need to beat the Colonels at home, and they need Misericordia to lose to the Devils at home to reach the MAC Freedom tournament as the fifth seed.
In the last meeting between DelVal and Wilkes, in Wilkes-Barre, the Colonels came away with a 73-62 win. Misericordia defeated FDU earlier this season on the road, 67-60. Wilkes is in the same situation as the Aggies – it needs to earn a win in Doylestown and have FDU defeat Misericordia to earn the fifth seed.
The Aggies are coming off a hard-fought, 63-60, win over the Cougars at home on Saturday and got off to a hot start tonight. The defense got three steals in the first 4:32 and held the Devils to one field goal to fuel a 10-2 run to start the game. Senior Francis Robles-Montas got the scoring started with a three, and Zoelin Pair capped the run with a steal and finish.
FDU pulled to within three after an and-1 layup by Carson Woods made it 14-11 just passed the midway point of the first half.
Goddy Marc scored five points in a 10-2 DelVal run over the next two and a half minutes to get the lead back to 10. At the end of the half, twin brother Godly Marc hit back-to-back layups to give the Aggies a 33-20 edge at the break.
In the second, DelVal quickly grew its lead to 49-27 after seven minutes and never looked back. The defense forced 10 turnovers in the second half and scored 24 of its 36 second half points off turnovers as the Aggies secured the must-win game.
Ten different players scored in the win and three reached double figures. Goddy Marc led the way with 13 off three trey's. Godly Marc and Pair each scored 11 and had three assists, and grabbed six and seven rebounds, respectively.
Woods and Matthew Johnson led the home team with 13 points each and Johnson grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
DelVal will face another must-win scenario this Saturday at home against Wilkes. Tip-off is 3 p.m. at James Work Gymnasium.
