PHOENIXVILLE, PA - Led by 19 points and a season-high 15 rebounds from Jay Scarbrough, the #2 Villa Maria Vikings closed the regular season with an 81-72 road victory at the University of Valley Forge Saturday afternoon.  The junior, Scarbrough, nearly recorded a double-double at halftime with eight points and 11 boards.  He added four assists and four steals in the game as well.

The Vikings (22-5) and Patriots came out of the halftime break knotted at 39.  Valley Forge opened up an early four-point lead in the half but the Vikings quickly turned the table, They used an 8-0 run to take a six-point lead of their own, 53-47 with 14:42 left.  Freshman Lonnie Taylor started the run with a layup before senior Justin Stokes scored on two straight possessions after that, both on assists from Taylor.  Junior Jonathan Pozo capped the run with a layup inside off a slick pass from Stokes.

The Patriots were able to get within one but were not able to regain the lead.  They scored five straight points to cut the deficit to one but a block on the defensive end by junior DeJaun Owens led to a fast-break layup for Scarbrough to push the lead back to three.  Sophomore Daniel Thompson then scored, again on the fast-break, to increase the lead to five with 8:59 left.

After UVF scored the ensuing basket, Villa used a 9-0 run over the next 1:54 to take it's largest lead of the game, 66-54.  From there, Villa withstood a late push from UVF to secure the victory, avenging a loss last season in the same building.

Taylor scored 18 points for Villa and also added eight rebounds and season-best six blocked shots.  Stokes finished with 14 points, five assists and three steals while Thompson put home 13 off the bench.  Villa's bench combined to score 19 points, corral 10 rebounds, dish out five assists, and come up with two steals.  Junior forward Kwanique Martin gave Villa a much-needed boost in the second half, securing three of his four rebounds in crucial moments in the second half.

Alex Sanchez led all scorers and put home 29 points for Valley Forge.

BOX SCORE
Villa Maria Vikings (22-5)                       39 - 42 -- 81
University of Valley Forge (3-16)            39 - 33 -- 72

INSIDE THE BOX
* Villa finished with 22 assists on 33 made baskets
* The Vikings shot nearly 49 percent in the second half
* Scarbrough recorded a season-high 15 rebounds
* Villa outscored UVF 56-32 in the paint
* UVF held a slight advantage in bench points (21-19)
* Villa forced 17 turnovers and had only nine themselves
* Villa held UVF to 35 percent shooting in the second half
* Villa led by as many as 12 while UVF led by as many as six
* Villa had 18 fast break points to UVF's six

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Don Silveri: "This was a nice way to end our regular season.  This is a tough place to play and Valley Forge is a real tough test.  We were fortunate to make a lot of key plays down the stretch.  Our bench was big and complimented our starters well.  We're looking forward to starting our preparation for the postseason this week."

UP NEXT
Villa will now set it's site on the Northeastern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (NIAC) Tournament set to begin Friday, February 23rd.  The tournament will be held at Villa Maria with the women's semifinals at 2 and 4 p.m., followed by the men's semifinals at 6 and 8 p.m.  The Vikings earned the top-seed in the tournament and will face fourth-seeded College of St. Joseph (VT) at 8 p.m.  Second-seed Maine Fort Kent will play the third-seeded Broncos of SUNY Delhi at 6 p.m.

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