CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The No. 5 seeded Neumann University men's basketball team edged No. 1 seeded DeSales University 76-74 on Saturday afternoon in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South semifinal action.
 
Darian Barnes led the Knights with 23 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. DeShawn Lowman hit three baskets from downtown and finished with 20 points. Tyaire Hudson netted 13 points and handed out six assists. James Butler rounded out the four Knights in double-digits with 11 points.
 
Neumann shot 54.5% from the field for the game, 59.3% in the second half.
 
Denzel Yard opened the game for the Knights with a three-pointer. The Bulldogs answered back with a basket from beyond the arc for the first of nine tied scores. The teams would also change leads 10 times.
 
With the teams knotted at seven, DeSales went on a mini 6-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. Neumann then answered with the next seven points to take a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer by Tony Parker. The Bulldogs would go on another run to take a 21-20 lead and extend it to a 33-22 advantage with 4:19 left in the first half.
 
A three-point play by Barnes started and capped a Knights 11-0 run to tie the game at 33 with 1:19 left before halftime. The Bulldogs scored five points in the final minute and Lowman connected on a three-pointer as the buzzard sounded. DeSales took a 38-36 lead into the break.
 
The teams stayed within five points of one another throughout the second half. With 2:22 on the clock, the teams had the ninth tied score of the game, 70-70. Hudson hit a layup to give Neumann a two point lead. Butler then hit a layup of his own for a 74-70 edge. The Bulldogs went 1-for-2 from the line to get within one possession. Lowman went 1-for-2 from the line, twice, for a two possession game, 76-71, with nine seconds on the clock.
 
DeSales hit its 12^th three-pointer with two seconds remaining and took a timeout. Neumann able to run the final second off the clock to advance to the ECAC South Championship game.
 
Neumann (21-8) will face the winner of the No. 2 Swarthmore/No. 3 Penn State Behrend semifinal game tomorrow at 2:00 PM for the ECAC South Championship.