Box Score CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Brett Moyer had a game-high 21 points for DeSales and the hosts held off Manhattanville just enough down the stretch to defeat the Valiants by the score of 71-67 in a Freedom Conference men's basketball contest on Wednesday evening at Billera Hall.
DeSales had four players reach double figures, led by Moyer, who shot 6 of 8 from the field and a perfect 9 for 9 from the line. Mike Coleman added 17 points and Kyle Hash chipped in 11 as well for the home team, with both players also receiving help at the charity stripe with seven makes each from the line.
Seniors Trevoy Pointer (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) and Felipe Vargas (Miami, Fla./Miami Christian) were the only Valiants in double figures on the night. Pointer led the team with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting and also added a game-high five assists, while Vargas came on late to finish with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Fellow senior Armani Blackmon (Plano, Texas/Plano East) also led all players with a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and two steals.
Both teams had similar shooting nights, as Manhattanville finished 27 for 59 (46 percent) from the field and DeSales finished at 43 percent (19 for 44). The major difference came at the aforementioned free-throw line, as the Bulldogs took 35 free throws and made 30 while the Valiants only were granted eight trips to the charity stripe, making five.
The largest lead of the first half was gained by Manhattanville at 15-8 with 13:50 remaining in the frame on a jumper by Pointer, but DeSales came back with a 9-0 run to regain the lead at the midway point of the half. But after the home team built up a four-point edge at 21-17, the Valiant defense held the Bulldogs to just one field goal in the final 8:25 of the frame and a layup by sophomore Jack Bramswig (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) gave the visitors a 27-25 lead at the half.
The second half was very closely contested to start out, as the teams traded the lead six times in the first five minutes. But after a Bramswig bucket put the Valiants up by three at 35-32 with 12:31 remaining, DeSales used a decisive 17-2 run to take a 12-point lead at 49-37 with 8:15 left in the contest.
A three-point play by Pointer temporarily stopped the bleeding, but DeSales eventually pushed its lead to as many as 15 (59-44) on a Coleman jumper with 4:55 to go in the game.
The Valiants were able to use some pressure defense to lower the deficit late in the contest, as a three-pointer from Vargas capped his streak of 12 points in less than five minutes and got the squad back within five points at 69-64 with 12 seconds to go. However, the visitors could never get back within one possession and ultimately fell short in the comeback attempt despite a last-second heave from senior Jeff Ventura (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay) that lowered the final margin to four points.
Manhattanville (9-9, 3-4 Freedom) will remain on the road Saturday, as the Valiants begin the second half of the Freedom Conference schedule at 3 p.m. at Eastern. DeSales (10-8, 3-4 Freedom) will travel to King's (Pa.) on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest.
