Men's Basketball News

Delaware Valley 70, FDU-Florham 68
Aggies Win First Game Of Season Just 24 Hours After Coach's Resignation

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - Sophomore Rich Schmidt's layup with 8.4 seconds remaining lifted the Delaware Valley College men's basketball team to a thrilling, 70-68 victory over visiting FDU-Florham in the Freedom Conference opener for both team.

The game took place just one day after the resignation of Aggie head coach Bill Dooley, who left the program after four games for personal reasons. Assistant Denny Surovec took over the head coaching reigns and Delaware Valley responded with its first win of the season (1-4, 1-0 Freedom).

The game was tied at 68-68 and the Aggies had possession with 21.7 seconds remaining following two missed free throws by the Devils' Chris Hendershot. With the clock under 10 seconds, freshman guard Isaiah Pinckney drove past a defender into the paint and dished off to a wide-open Schmidt who laid it up and in for the game-winning basket.

FDU-Florham (3-2, 0-1) quickly moved the ball upcourt and Jeff Hemschoot's attempt in the paint fell short. The ball was knocked out of bounds and the Devils kept possession with 0.7 seconds remaining. They failed to get a shot off the inbounds pass and Delaware Valley celebrated the victory.

The Aggies came out flying and built a 25-9 lead in the first seven minutes of the game as they hit their first five 3-pointers of the contest. Pinckney and fellow rookie guard Javon Alston were inserted into the starting lineup and combined for 15 of the 25 points.

FDU-Florham slowly chipped away at its deficit and trailed by only four, 43-39, at the half thanks to 59.3 percent shooting from the field. Delaware Valley also shot better than 50 percent (53.3%) in the first 20 minutes as it hit 16 of its first 30 shots.

The Aggies increased the lead to as many as seven in the second half and still held a 65-60 advantage following a pair of Kevin Wright free throws with 3:52 remaining. The Devils then scored six straight points, capped by two Dan Scaturro free throws, to take their first lead of the game since the opening minute, 66-65 with 2:37 to go.

Delaware Valley regained the lead as Schmidt hit a free throw and freshman Mike Thornton added a layup. Hendershot tied the game for FDU-Florham with a layup of his own with 55 seconds remaining. That set-up the last second heroics by Schmidt and the Aggie victory.

Alston paced Delaware Valley with 15 points and also added five rebounds. Pinckney had 14 points and six assists while Thornton had 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Wright also reached double figures with 12 points. Schmidt finished the night with seven points and seven rebounds.

Hendershot had 17 points and six rebounds to lead the Devils. Chris Trotta added nine points while Frank Emslie and Kevin White contributed eight points apiece off the bench.