Center Valley, PA (January 6, 2007) – The DeSales University men’s basketball team shot 53.2 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three-point land leading it past The College of New Jersey, 76-64, to take home the championship in the 2007 Casa Mia Holiday Tournament in Billera Hall.
Senior Steve Kriczky (Birdsboro, PA/Daniel Boone) and freshman Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) combined to score 35 points and shoot 8-for-13 from three-point land, while junior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) dished out nine assists, many to Kriczky and Braswell. Ohlson and Braswell earned All-Tournament honors and junior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring a career-high 31 points in the opening round win.
The win is the eighth straight for the Bulldogs (10-2 overall), while the loss drops the Lions to 8-6 overall. Mark Aziz was named to the All-Tournament Team for the Lions, finishing with 14 points in the loss.
A 17-6 run midway thru the first half proved to be the difference in the game. Leading 19-14 at the 8:34 mark, Stricker started the spurt with consecutive lay-ups and Kriczky and Braswell finished the run with three consecutive treys to give DSU a 36-20 edge. The lead was 15 at the half and the Bulldogs led by as many as 24 points in the second half before settling for the final 12-point margin.
Kriczky finished with a game-high 21 points, Braswell totaled 14 points and five rebounds and Ohlson’s final line read six points, nine assists and two steals. Stricker was held to six points, giving him 37 for the two tournament games.
Joining Aziz in double figures was Jay Frank who totaled a team-high 16 points for the Lions.
In the consolation game a 12-1 run in the first half gave the Seahawks (5-6 overall) a seven point edge and a 12-0 run in the second half saw St. Mary’s leading 63-50 as Immaculata (1-9 overall) was never able to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way. Mike Smelkinson had 18 points and seven assists to earn All-Tournament Team honors for St. Mary’s, while Kyle Finklea totaled 19 points and was named to the All-Tournament team for the Mighty Macs.
DESALES UNIVERSITY 76, THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY 64 THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY (8-6 overall) Jay Frank 7-13 0-0 16; Mark Aziz 6-14 2-2 14; William Jett 2-4 5-5 9; Corey Gilmore 4-6 0-0 8; Jeff Warner 2-5 1-2 5; Adam Gonzalez 2-3 1-2 5; Drew Rosenfeld 1-2 2-4 4; Steve Feinberg 1-1 0-0 3; Brian Halligan 0-4 0-0 0; Jeff Molinelli 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 11-16 64. DESALES UNIVERSITY (10-2 overall) Steve Kriczky 5-9 7-9 21; Darnell Braswell 5-9 0-0 14; Ed Lapinski 4-5 0-1 8; Sedale Walton 3-8 1-2 7; Matt Zwetolitz 2-2 2-2 7; Eddie Ohlson 1-6 3-4 6; Phil Stricker 3-3 0-0 6; Jamie McCloskey 1-2 2-2 5; Jim Malatesta 1-1 0-0 2; Zach Hoover 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 15-20 76. The College of New Jersey..... 26 38 - 64 DeSales University............ 41 35 - 76 3-point goals-The College of New Jersey 3-13 (Jay Frank 2-4; Steve Feinberg 1-1; William Jett 0-1; Corey Gilmore 0-1; Jeff Warner 0-2; Drew Rosenfeld 0-1; Brian Halligan 0-1; Jeff Molinelli 0-1; Mark Aziz 0-1), DeSales University 11-23 (Darnell Braswell 4-6; Steve Kriczky 4-7; Jamie McCloskey 1-2; Eddie Ohlson 1-5; Matt Zwetolitz 1-1; Sedale Walton 0-1; Ed Lapinski 0-1). Rebounds-New Jersey 27 (Adam Gonzalez 6), DeSales 28 (Ed Lapinski 8). Assists-New Jersey 8 (Drew Rosenfeld 2; Mark Aziz 2), DeSales 19 (Eddie Ohlson 9). Phil Stricker of DeSales University named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Darnell Braswell and Eddie Ohlson of DeSales University named to All-Tourn. Team. Mark Aziz of The College of New Jersey named to All-Tournament Team.