ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Dickinson men's basketball team carried the momentum gained from their massive regular season finale win into Monday night's special tiebreaker game against Muhlenberg College. With the right to play again hanging in the balance the Red and White led for nearly 39 minutes and held a decisive 38-23 edge on the glass en route to claiming a hard-fought 70-67 win over the Mules at Memorial Hall. With the victory, the Devils nabbed the sixth and final seed in this week's Centennial Conference tournament and will head to third-seeded Franklin & Marshall College on Wednesday night.
The Red and White got out to a quick start as triples by
Isaiah Edmond and
Nate Ogbu coupled with a layup for Ogbu made it 8-2 inside the first three minutes. After a finish in the paint for Brandon Goldberg, the visitors responded with buckets from
Brandon Wiercinski, Edmond and Ogbu to jump out to a 15-7 advantage with 5:36 gone. Dickinson eventually pushed it double-digits at 19-9 thanks to a trey for
Skyler Venezia and a split on the line by
Anthony Goeb. A layup from Goldberg trimmed it 19-11, but jumpers out of the hands of
Andrew Gostovich and
Randy Shephard helped DC extend the margin to a dozen (23-11). The Devils continued to hold off the Mules as
Drew Haueisen and
David Petrusev joined the party to open up a 13-point cushion (27-14) at the 12:24 mark. However, the duo of Jason Williams-Johnson and Giovanni Rubino brought the hosts back into the game with a 14-3 run to cut the deficit down to just two (30-28). A bucket from Ogbu along with a trey for Wiercinski made it 35-30 inside the last two minutes. However, five points by Rubino and one at the stripe for Drew Greene brought the hosts to within one 37-36 through 20 minutes.
The Devils came out firing to begin the second period as four straight by Petrusev and a three-ball for Goeb made it 44-36 with not even two minutes off the clock prompting a Muhlenberg timeout. Out of the break the combo of Rubino and Williams-Johnson took six of the next eight to trim the gap slightly 46-42. After a corner jumper for Edmond, the trio of Goldberg, Rubino and Williams-Johnson kept the Mules fighting on the comeback train making it 49-47 at the seven-minute mark. The conventional three-point play by Petrusev pushed the lead to 52-47, but five consecutive points by the home side had the game locked at 52-52 causing a DC timeout. Out of the break, Goeb, Ogbu and Venezia embarked on a 6-2 run to grab a 58-54 advantage inside the final six minutes. A triple by Rubino and floater for Williams-Johnson ended a near five-minute scoreless run for the Mules, but Edmond answered back on the ensuing two trips down the floor hitting three-of-four on the charity line (61-59). Rubino continued his personal tear in the second-half with a floater to level the score, however, Wiercinski buried a shot from long-range to give the Red and White the small 64-61 edge. The two sides traded the next eight points as a hard driving finish by Ogbu made it 68-65 Devils with less than a minute left. Unfortunately, the home side did not go down quietly as Rubino answered with a 15-foot pull-up to close within 68-67 and forcing an MC timeout at the 19:29 mark. On the following Dickinson possession, a foul by Michael Feroci put Venezia on the line for a pivotal "one and one". The sophomore then showcased ice in his veins by drilling two shots for the 70-67 edge. Muhlenberg was not done however as Rubino got a clean look at three, but it clanged off the iron into the hands of Goeb for the final.
Red Devil Leaders
Points – Ogbu (16), Edmond (12), Petrusev and Wiercinski (9)
Assists – Ogbu (5), Petrusev (3)
Rebounds – Ogbu (8), Gostovich and Petrusev (7)
Mule Leaders
Points – Rubino (31), Williams-Johnson (17)
Assists – Greene (4), Gordos and Rubino (2)
Rebounds – Stanton-Shepherd (6), Rubino (4)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (11-15) will now advance to the official first round of the Centennial Conference tournament as the sixth seed and will head to Lancaster on Wednesday night to battle the third-seeded Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats at 7pm. Complete game preview with ticket information will be available tomorrow afternoon on dickinsonathletics.com.
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