It was the season finale for both teams and the victory clinched a winning season for the Warriors (13-12, 6-8). The Aggies, who honored seniors Isaiah Pinckney and Josh Taylor before the contest, finished 5-20 overall and 3-11 in conference play.
Delaware Valley shot 54.3 percent from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from Zack Van Dyke, who came off the bench to score 12 in the stanza. Ten of his points came in a 13-4 run that turned a 20-17 deficit into a 29-24 Aggie advantage with 4:59 remaining. Later in the half, Delaware Valley scored eight straight for a 39-29 lead and it eventually took a 44-34 advantage into the intermission.
However, the second half saw the Warrors have the hot hand as they connected on 58.1 percent of their shots from the field. They opened with a 13-5 spurt and later took the lead at 52-51 on a 3-pointer by Kevin Morris with 12:48 remaining.
Delaware Valley responded with five straight, including a trey from Jason Seipt to regain the lead. Seipt then hit another from downtown with 9:45 to go for a 59-55 advantage. However, Lycoming took the lead for good thanks to seven points in a row.
The game was still one-possession contest with 42.3 seconds to go as Pinckney hit a pair of free throws to pull the Aggies to within two at 74-72. Morris was fouled a second later and he hit just one of two shots from the foul line. Pinckney came down and had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer to tie it, but the shot hit off the rim and Morris was fouled again with 31.2 ticks left.
Morris drained both shots for a 77-72 lead but back came Pinckney who scored on a drive while being fouled. He hit the free throw for a 77-75 ballgame with 25.7 seconds remaining. Lycoming’s Jamayne Nowlin was fouled with 23.4 seconds left and he calmly hit both shots for a four-point lead. Delaware Valley turned the ball over on its next possession and Morris ended the game with one free throw with 5.4 seconds left for the 80-75 final.
Pinckney concluded a great career with the Aggies as he scored a team-high 21 points and moved into fifth place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,435 points. The guard, who also had nine assists in the game, finished second on the career list in both 3-pointers (156) and steals (166) and third in assists (309).
Van Dyke finished the game a perfect 7-for-7 from the field (2-for-2 from 3-point land) and hit both free throws for 18 points. Seipt added 15 points while Taylor ended his collegiate career with 10 points.
Morris notched a game-high 22 points and also added six rebounds and six assists for the Warriors. Greg Sye and David Wilson added 15 and 13 points respectively.