The Bulldogs (2-1 overall) had control of the game throughout the first 25 minutes leading by 11, 45-34, with 14:34 to go in the second half before the Greyhounds (1-2 overall) took control with a 30-9 run over the next eight minutes to take a 64-54 lead with 6:30 to play. During the spurt Moravian shot 13-of-15 (86.7%) from the field as seven different Greyhounds scored including Chris Earley with a team-high six points and Matt Devlin, Eric Weaver and Mark Franzyshen with five each.
Junior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) ended the DSU drought with two free throws at the 6:18 mark which ignited the 11-0 game-clinching spurt. Following an MC turnover, Braswell drove left and scored on an easy lay-up and Moravian once again turned the ball over following an offensive rebound of its own miss. Junior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) had the ball at the top of the key with the shot clock winding down and dribbled his way thru the lane finishing a one-handed flip while being fouled to cut the margin to four points, 64-60.
Another Greyhound turnover gave DSU the ball back when Braswell went to work. He got the ball in the post, took one dribble to the right, pumped, ducked underneath his defender and laid the ball in on a nifty move. Sophomore Jeff Raimo (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) caught Moravian napping on the inbounds pass and stole it away. Raimo fired the ball to Ohlson at the top of the key who found Braswell open on the other side of the court for a three and he drained it, giving DSU a 65-64 lead.
Steve Wenderfer answered with a lay-up regaining the lead for Moravian, but Raimo made an acrobatic shot with 1:29 to go while being fouled and calmly sunk the free throw to make it 68-66. Wenderfer was fouled on the next Greyhound possession and knocked down both free throws and Braswell had another go-ahead lay-up just roll out on the other end.
Tied at 68, Moravian missed a jumper and Ohlson grabbed the rebound and was fouled while collecting the ball. He walked to the other end and made both charity tosses and sophomore Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) came up big on the defensive end making a steal and Raimo was fouled where he canned 1-of-2 freebies making it 71-68. The Greyhounds got a tying trey off with seven seconds left but Braswell grabbed the board and made one free throw to seal the win for DeSales.
The first half was all DeSales as they used a 15-4 run mid-way thru the period to go up by 10 points and led by that same margin heading into the locker rooms. For the game, DSU shot 48.2 percent (63.6 percent in the second half), while Moravian canned 44.1 percent (56.7 percent in the second half) of its own shots.
Stricker led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Ohlson finished with 11 points and five assists and Braswell totaled 10 points off the bench. Raimo also provided a big boost off the bench with six points, four assists and three steals.
Franzyshen totaled 15 points, Wenderfer has 12 points and nine rebounds and Earley had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench to lead the Greyhounds.
The Bulldogs take a few days off for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and will return to action on Monday, November 27th when they host College Misericordia for a non-conference game beginning at 8:00 pm.
DESALES UNIVERSITY 72, MORAVIAN COLLEGE 68 DESALES UNIVERSITY (2-1 overall) Phil Stricker 8-11 2-3 18; Eddie Ohlson 3-5 5-9 11; Darnell Braswell 4-7 1-2 10; Steve Kriczky 3-8 1-2 8; Jeff Raimo 1-3 4-5 6; Matt Zwetolitz 2-7 2-2 6; Ed Lapinski 3-6 0-0 6; Jamie McCloskey 1-4 1-2 3; Jim Malatesta 1-1 0-0 2; Sedale Walton 1-3 0-0 2; Marvin Satchell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 16-25 72. MORAVIAN COLLEGE (1-2 overall) Mark Franzyshen 5-7 5-5 15; Steve Wenderfer 4-6 4-4 12; Chris Earley 5-9 1-2 11; Eric Whitman 3-6 0-0 9; Eric Weaver 3-3 0-0 7; Ryan Miller 3-13 0-0 6; Matt Devlin 2-5 0-0 5; Michael Clemente 1-10 0-0 3. Totals 26-59 10-11 68. DeSales University............ 35 37 - 72 Moravian College.............. 25 43 - 68 3-point goals-DeSales 2-7 (Steve Kriczky 1-3; Darnell Braswell 1-1; Matt Zwetolitz 0-2; Sedale Walton 0-1), Moravian 6-23 (Eric Whitman 3-6; Eric Weaver 1-1; Matt Devlin 1-2; Michael Clemente 1-8; Ryan Miller 0-5; Chris Earley 0-1). Rebounds-DeSales 36 (Phil Stricker 7), Moravian 31 (Steve Wenderfer 9). Assists-DeSales 16 (Eddie Ohlson 5), Moravian 13 (Greg Jones 3; Michael Clemente 3; Ryan Miller 3).