For The Dialog
WILMINGTON — The Salesianum offense had a tough time Friday night at the St. E Center, but the defense for the No. 2-ranked Sals was on all night. The Sals held St. Elizabeth to nine points in the second half in a 46-28 road victory.
It was a game of runs, especially early in the first half, and the Vikings jumped out to a 7-3 lead. They would not score again in the first quarter, however, and the Sals scored the final 10 points for a 13-7 lead after one. Junior guard Donte DiVincenzo had seven of those points, senior forward Brian O’Neill the other six.
Junior Shane Clark extended the lead to 16-7 on a three-pointer that was supposed to be an alley oop to DiVincenzo. But St. Elizabeth rallied to tie the game at 19 with a 12-3 run of its own. Seven of those points came from freshman Malik Curry off the bench, including the last five on free throws.
As the half wound down, Clark hit a basket that gave Salesianum the lead going into the locker room, and the visitors would not relinquish it.
It was all Sals in the third as they outscored the Vikings, 10-1. St. Elizabeth went almost 16 minutes of game time without a field goal, from midway through the second to midway through the fourth quarter, a drought that ended when freshman Jordan Money dunked the ball off a steal.
DiVincenzo scored 10 of his 19 points in the final stanza, including a thunderous dunk with a minute to go that made it 44-27. O’Neill added 14, Clark had seven. Junior Mike Piekarski led St. Elizabeth with nine points on three three-point shots.
Salesianum improved to 7-1 on the year and next plays Tuesday at winless Tatnall School at 5:45 p.m. The schedule does not get any easier for the 1-5 Vikings, who travel to top-ranked Sanford Thursday at 5 p.m.
