News Release

Center Valley, PA — DeSales University used a big second half effort to post a 75-51 Freedom Conference men’s basketball win over Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon at Billera Hall. The Bulldogs improve to 14-4 overall and up their conference mark to 6-2, while the Colonels fall to 9-8 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

DeSales got out of the gate quickly by using a 15-2 run to assume a 20-6 lead with 11:28 to go in the opening half on a basket by Matt Zwetolitz.

Wilkes would fight back, out-scoring the Bulldogs 20-6 over the next six minutes. Two free throws by Matt Gould and a three-pointer by Anthony Gabriel cut the lead to 20-11. The lead was still nine, 24-15, when Dan Adams cashed in a field goal inside and Jeremy Kable connected on a three-pointer to pull the Colonels within 24-20. Gabriel would then hit one free throw with 6:47 left in the half to make it a 24-21 game.

Jamie McCloskey scored on a drive to extend the DeSales lead to 26-21. But, Steve Kline knocked down a three-pointer and Gabriel converted a turnover into a lay-up to tie the game at 26-26 with 5:10 left in the half.

DeSales would score the final six points of the first half to assume a 33-27 lead at intermission. Sedale Walton hit the second of two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 28-27 advantage. Phil Stricker followed with a field goal inside to up the lead to 30-27. Steve Kriczky capped the run with a three-pointer just five seconds before intermission that made it 33-27.

With momentum on their side, DeSales came out of the halftime locker room and put together a 13-2 spurt to open up a double-figure lead they would never relinquish. Eddie Ohlsen scored on a drive for the Bulldogs and Kriczky added a lay-up to extend the gap to 37-27. A lay-up by Gould temporarily halted the spurt and cut the lead to 37-29. Kriczky would follow with a three-pointer and Stricker knocked down two free throws and a pair of charity tosses to push the lead to 44-29. Ohlsen capped the decisive run with jumper that gave DeSales a 46-29 lead with 14:43 left in the game.

Gabriel popped in a three-pointer for Wilkes to make it 46-32 with 13:10 to play before the Bulldogs rattled off 16 of the next 18 points to widen the lead. Zwetolitz hit two three-pointers during the out-burst, while both Ohlsen and Darnell Braswell connected for one long-range bomb each. Sedale Walton’s two free throws with 9:56 left capped the run and gave DeSales a 62-34 lead.

DeSales shot an impressive 50.9 percent from the field, hitting 28-of-55 field goal attempts. The Bulldogs were also successful on 10-of-23 shots from behind the three-point line. Wilkes shot just 32.7 percent from the field after cashing in 16-of-49 field goal tries, including just 7-of-25 from three-point land.

Ohlsen tossed in 16 points and handed out nine assists to take game-high honors in both statistical categories. Stricker chipped in with 13 points, while Zwetolitz added 10 tallies.

Gabriel was the lone Wilkes player to reach double-figures, finishing the afternoon with 11 points and three assists. Kable added nine points and three assists, while Gould had eight points.