Phoenixville, PA – The University of Valley Forge Men's Basketball took care of business on their home floor on Friday night by taking down the Crusaders of Christendom College by a final score of 81-56. 

Offensively, the Patriots were led by senior Cody Collins (Oakdale, NY) with 25 points.  Collins was 10-14 from the field including 5-6 from behind the three-point line.  Freshmen Aaron Hill (Fredericksburg, VA) gave the Patriots a big boost off the bench.  Hill went 7-13 from the field and 6-12 from behind the arc which was good for 20 points on the evening.

Defensively, The Patriots were led by senior rebounding machine Sean Word (Baltimore, MD).  Word gathered 18 rebounds on the defensive end of the floor.  Valley Forge recorded 9 steals throughout the contest.

The Patriots were given the task of stopping Christendom's 6'8" sophomore center Luke Schultz.  Schultz came into the game averaging 18 points a game.  The Patriots however, were up for the challenge. 

Cody Collins got things rolling for UVF by opening the game with a long distance three that seemed to set the tone right away.  The Patriots opened the game on an 8-2 run.  After a Crusader bucket made the score 8-4, the Patriot's Rafael Smith drove to the basket for an easy layup and on the following possession Cody Collins connected on another three to make the score 13-4 in favor of Valley Forge.  At the 14-minute mark, Christendom went on a 7-0 run to bring the Patriot lead down to 2.  Both teams continued to battle but with just under 5 minutes remaining until halftime, Valley Forge went to work.  The Combination of Aaron Hill and Cody Collins brought a spark to the Patriot offense.  Hill and Collins made consecutive layups and the following Valley Forge possession, Aaron Hill drilled a three.  Followed by another Cody Collins layup, Valley Forge built a double-digit lead at 28-16. Christendom closed out the half on 5-0 scoring run to make the score 30-23 in favor of UVF.

Cody Collins made another statement bucket to open the second half.  On the Patriots first possession of the second half, Collins buried a three.  That was just the beginning.  After Christendom's Michael Urankar made a three, Valley Forge went on a tear.  UVF used a 9-2 run to push their lead to 15.  Following two Christendom buckets, the Patriots Aaron Hill caught fire.  Hill drained two threes on two trips down the floor that gave UVF a 54-37 lead with 11:29 to play.  Hill's two long distance trey's would ignite the home crowd and give the Patriot's all the momentum.  The combination of Cody Collins and Aaron Hill worked out well for UVF once again.  Both Hill and Collins each nailed a three and the Patriots would hold their biggest lead of the game at 25 with under 7 minutes left on the clock.  Valley Forge cruised to an 81-56 win on their home floor.

Valley Forge shot 50% from the field that included knocking down 11 shots from behind the arc.  The Patriots held a big advantage in points off the bench.  UVF totaled 35 compared to just 3 for Christendom.  Sean Word shut down Christendom's Luke Schultz.  Schultz ended the game with 14 points which is below his season average. 
 
Coaches Quote
 
"Tonight was just a total team effort.  We finally played 40 minutes of basketball.  We had several hard conversations with our guys yesterday about taking pride on the defensive end and they really stepped up to the challenge.  There were several standout performers but I want to highlight our captains.  Sean did a great job on Schultz, and finished with 19 rebounds and 12 assists.  Cody provided an offensive spark for us.  Most importantly these two were leaders for us.  We look forward to getting back to work as we have another game on Monday." – Head Coach – DJ Damazo