The win snaps a two-game skid for the Bulldogs who improve to 4-3 overall, while the loss is the second of the season for the Cavaliers as they drop to 4-2 overall. The game was the first meeting since the 1996-97 season and is the second straight win for DeSales over Cabrini.
In the opening half, DSU opened up a 12-point lead on three different occasions and for the last time at 32-20 with 7:06 remaining. An 11-0 spurt by Cabrini cut the deficit to one point, 32-31, before DeSales scored the last six points of the half to take a 38-31 lead into the locker rooms.
Senior Drew Christman and sophomore Phil Stricker each had eight points to lead DeSales and Colin Fitzgerald was the high man for Cabrini with nine tallies off the bench.
After a backdoor lay-up by sophomore Jamie McCloskey on the opening possession of the second half, CC answered with an 11-0 run to take a 42-40 lead with 16:21 to go. During the Cavalier spurt, DSU went 0-for-10 from the field.
As cold as the Bulldogs were from the floor during the Cabrini spurt, two consecutive three-pointers from junior Steve Kriczky seemed to heat the entire DeSales squad up immediately as they answered the cold spell with a 14-1 run to take both command of the game and an 11-point lead, 54-43. The Bulldogs made 5-of-6 during the game-breaking stretch.
The lead hovered around 11 points over the next 4 ½ minutes before DSU scored 12 straight points to push its 12-point lead up to 24, the largest margin of the game, with 6:12 to play. Cabrini never got any closer than 14 before the final 16-point margin was posted.
A balanced scoring attack saw six Bulldogs reach double figures. Stricker recorded his first career double-double with a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kriczky equaled Stricker’s team-high with 16 tallies of his own including four treys.
Junior Sedale Walton had an impressive game off the bench, scoring a career-high 12 points, grabbing four offensive rebounds and dishing out three assists in 21 minutes. McCloskey, Christman and sophomore Eddie Ohlson rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points each. Ohlson also contributed seven assists and four steals in the win.
Bennet led the Cavaliers with a game-high 18 points and Randy Reid added 12 in the losing effort. Bennett also grabbed seven boards to lead the Cavs.