Men's Basketball

DELAWARE VALLEY 80, FDU-FLORHAM 77

DOYLESTOWN (PA) - Delaware Valley held off a furious FDU-Florham comeback as the Devils nearly rallied from a 25-point deficit but fell to the host Aggies, 80-77, in a Freedom Conference game Wednesday evening.

The win improved the Aggies to 8-12 overall and 3-6 in the Freedom Conference. The eight victories doubles the team's entire win total from the 2003-04 campaign (4-20). FDU-Florham fell to 8-11, 3-6.

After leading 41-28 at halftime, Delaware Valley scored the first 11 points of the second stanza - five by Orlon Baker - to up the lead to 24. Moments later, the lead was pushed up to 54-29, but FDU-Florham scored 13 of the next 17 points to make it a 16-point ballgame with 11:48 remaining.

Just 26 seconds later, the lead was back up to 62-42 as the Aggies made four free throws when two Devils coaches, including head coach Roger Kindel, were ejected from the game.

Delaware Valley still held a 67-49 lead as it reached the midway point of the second half, but the Devils scored 11 consecutive points to cut their deficit to seven, 67-60, with 7:37 to go. Matt Cushing had five points in the spurt.

The lead remained at seven, 74-67, with 2:37 remaining, but Cushing scored four straight and Nate Lawrence added a pair of free throws to pull the Devils to within one, 74-73, with 1:09 left.

A.J. Neal's put back for the Aggies was countered by a Chris Hendershot layup for a 76-75 score. Delaware Valley's Randall Graves was fouled with 21 seconds to go and the senior swished both free throws to put the lead back up to three.

FDU-Florham came downcourt and Lawrence's long 3-point attempt missed, but a scramble resulted in a Jeff Hemschoot layup and a 78-77 score with 3.6 seconds to go. FDU-Florham called timeout and pressed on Delaware Valley's inbounds pass. However, the Aggies broke the press and Josh Taylor's layup at the buzzer gave Delaware Valley the 80-77 triumph.

Baker scored a career-high 21 points for the Aggies while also grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots. Randall Graves and Isaiah Pinckney scored 15 points apiece with the backcourt duo combining for 13 assists and six steals.

Two days after a career-high 44 point performance against Lycoming, Hendershot scored 28 points for the Devils, including a 21-point effort in the second half. Hendershot also recorded a team-high eight rebounds. Frankie Emslie had 12 points and seven assists while Cushing added 11 points in the loss.