Both teams scorched the nets as DeSales (4-2 overall) shot 54.0 percent (34-of-63) from the field and Goucher (4-2 overall) finished the game shooting 55.0 percent (33-of-60). The Bulldogs held a 32-26 edge on the glass and Goucher committed 17 turnovers, five more than DSU. The Gophers also canned 55.0 percent (11-of-20) of its three-point attempts as the Bulldogs shot 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from outside the arc.
The game remained in doubt until the final minute of play as each team countered with spurt after spurt in the second half. DeSales seemed to have control of the game leading by 12 points, 85-73, with 4:29 left to play but an 11-2 run over the next three minutes cut the lead to two points, 86-84, with 1:30 remaining.
The Bulldogs worked the ball around for close to 30 seconds before a missed three-point attempt caromed to the far corner where a Gopher defender pushed two Bulldog rebounders from behind. A foul was called and a technical foul was added after the Goucher player argued the referee’s call. Senior Michael Venafra hit both technical free throws and freshman Phil Stricker hit the first of two freebies, but tipped out his own miss and the Bulldogs regained possession.
Goucher eventually fouled senior Kevin Welsh with 44 ticks left and he knocked down 1-of-2 free throws and DeSales connected on two more charity tosses to provide the final eight-point margin.
The Gophers began the game making its first six shots and 11 of its first 12 attempts to take a 28-19 lead. But the Bulldogs got hot themselves and ended the first half on a 27-12 run to lead 46-40 at intermission. The lead grew to as many as 11 points before Goucher tied it at 65 with 9:54 left. Another DSU run pushed the lead to 12 with 4:29 left before the Gophers made its final run.
Senior Kyle Koch scored a game-high 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point land. Venafra added 19 points and five assists and senior David Spadt registered the first double-double of the season for DeSales with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Eddie Ohlson was spectacular off the bench distributing 10 assists in just 18 minutes of action.
The Gophers had four players score in double figures including Jermaine Saunders with a team-high 19 points. Garrett Smith added 18, Trevor Quinn had 14 and Jonathan Garritt totaled 12 tallies in the loss.