Late Rally Lifts Delhi in ACAA Title Game

The 2019 ACAA Championship went down to the final seconds in a thrilling contest between Alfred State and SUNY Delhi. Delhi rallied from an 13-point deficit in the final ten minutes and scored the game winner with 2.7 seconds left to claim the 2019 ACAA Championship title 77-75 over Alfred State on Sunday.

Delhi jumped out to a 9-2 lead early but the Pioneers chipped away and took their first lead of the game, 14-13, with just over 11 minutes remaining in the 1st half. Alfred State led 29-24 with 3:16 remaining after going on a 13-5 run. The game went back and forth the rest of the half and the Pioneers went into the break with a slight 36-34 advantage. Tahaij Lewis (Rochester/Greece Olympia) led Alfred State with 11 points and 11 boards while Juwan Toliver (Buffalo/McKinley) added nine. Jordan Fragale led Delhi with 15.

The Pioneers added to their lead in the 2nd half and led 65-52 with 10:13 left before the Broncos went on a 15-4 run to pull within two, 69-67, with 5:17 left. Alfred State pushed the lead back to eight, 75-67, with 3:35 remaining but Delhi would keep the Pioneers off the board the rest of the way. Fragale hit one of two foul shots with 1:36 remaining to tie the game at 75-75. In the ensuing possession, the Pioneers could not get a shot off and turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. After a timeout, Delhi missed their first two scoring opportunities and milked the clock down to the final seconds when Fragale was able to drive the ball into the paint for the winning basket with 2.7 seconds remaining. The Pioneers advanced the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout with 1.8 remaining and a last second three point attempt hit the front iron as time expired.

Lewis scored another 12 points in the 2nd half while Dante Jordan (New York/Law & Public) had nine. Fragale was huge for the Broncos as he had 12 points and six assists.

Lewis finished the day with another double-double. He had 23 points (11 for 12 from the foul line) and 15 boards. Toliver had 14 points and seven assists, Jordan finished with 13, and Kevin Goode (Rochester/Bishop Kearney) came off the bench and had 10 points.

Alfred State was 24 for 65 from the field (36.9%), 4 for 20 (20%) from three, and 23 for 28 (82.1%) from the foul line. They were out-rebounded by one, but had a season high eight blocks (led by Jordan's five).

Fragale was 11 for 22 for 27 points to lead the Broncos (17-10). He also passed out eight assists and grabbed five boards. Justin Daoud had 13, Carlos Ithier connected on three 3-pointers, and Payton Dean finished with eight points and 10 rebounds. Delhi was 31 for 67 (46.3%) from the field, 6 for 14 from three (42.9%), and 9 for 17 from the foul line (52.9%).

Fragale was named the ACAA Tournament MVP while Dean joined him on the all-tournament team along with Lewis from Alfred State, Damion King from Thomas More, and Jamal Hamans from Pine Manor.

The Pioneers finish the season with a 15-12 record. They have put in for the ECAC Tournament and will find out their fate on Monday afternoon.