Zinn becomes the 17th player in men’s basketball history to record 1,000 career points and the Bulldogs (21-3, 11-2 Freedom) clinch at least a #2 seed in next week’s Freedom Conference playoffs with the win. Wilkes (15-8, 8-5 Freedom) is now locked in as the fourth seed in the conference playoffs with the loss.
After a first half that saw nine lead changes and a one-point Colonel lead, 36-35, at halftime, the Bulldogs used a 14-4 run stretching a two-point lead into a 12-point advantage, 59-47, at the 10:20 mark of the second half. A trey by Zinn started the run and featured five points from junior David Spadt and four more from junior Michael Venafra including two freebies after a technical foul was assessed to the Colonel bench.
A quick 6-0 run following the technical cut the lead to six points, 59-53, but DeSales responded with an 11-4 run that gave them its largest lead of the game at 70-57 with 4:21 remaining. Zinn again started the spurt with a lay-up, Venafra added a trey, and junior David Bright scored four points including a dunk to ignite the DSU crowd and propel the Bulldogs to its 19th straight home victory.
DSU shot 68.0 percent (17-of-25) from the field in the second half as they out-scored the Colonels, 48-34 in the second period. DSU also out-rebounded Wilkes, 41-27, and held WU to just 36.8 percent from the field in the second half.
Zinn led the attack with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds. Junior Kyle Koch added 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists, Venafra added 15 tallies, and Bright shot 6-for-8 from the field for 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Spadt led the charge off the bench with nine points and five rebounds and sophomore Drew Christman totaled six points and seven rebounds.
Seniors Dave Plisko and Mike Morgan totaled 48 of the Colonels 70 total points. Plisko finished with a game-high 27 on 10-of-14 shooting and Morgan added 21 on 5-of-10 from outside the arc.