Box Score
READING, Pa. – Junior guard J.D. Byers (Westminster, Md./Westminster) scored a team-high 17 points, including LVC's final five, and the Flying Dutchmen edged Albright College 71-70 in their Commonwealth Conference opener Wednesday evening in the Bollman Center.
With the Dutchmen trailing 68-66 with 1:39 left, Byers knocked down one of his three 3-pointers to give the Valley the lead for good. After Trevor Deeter missed a pair of free throws, Byers hit a pair from the line with 34 seconds on the clock to give LVC a 71-68 lead.
Deeter knocked down two foul shots with 26 seconds left to make it 71-70, and the Lions had a chance to win the game after junior forward Steve Buzinski (West Pittston, Pa./Wyoming) missed a pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining. But Terron Buchanan's three-pointer at the buzzer clanged off the back iron and the Dutchmen escaped with the victory.
Ironically, Lebanon Valley's last one-point victory was an 80-79 overtime win at Albright on Feb. 6, 2002.
Albright lost for the first time this season after starting 4-0.
Byers was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line. He also had a team-high four assists.
Senior guard Evan Harlor (Danville, Pa./Danville) contributed a season-high 16 points for LVC (3-2, 1-0 CC). He shot 5-for-7 from the field was 3-for-5 from three-point range. Junior center Brad Stigelman (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) netted 12 points and a team-high five rebounds while Buzinski tossed in a season-high 10 points.
Deeter had an outstanding game for Albright (4-1, 0-1 CC), scoring a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He also collected a game-high 16 rebounds.
Buchanon added 18 points for the Lions.
Albright led the Dutchmen for most of the first half. The Lions enjoyed a seven-point lead (21-14) with 8:20 left in the stanza before the Valley came to life. The Dutchmen reeled off a 14-0 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Byers with 2:33 left, to go in front by a 28-21 count. LVC took a 32-27 lead into the locker room.
Harlor scored 10 of his points in the first half to lead the Valley. LVC made all six of its first-half free throws while the Lions made just 3-of-8 shots from the charity stripe, including a pair of misses on the front of one-on-one opportunities.
Lebanon Valley continued to pull ahead early in the second half and the Dutchmen led by as much as nine (40-31) after a long three-pointer from Byers 2:11 into the period. But Albright came back with a 6-0 run to cut the gap to five. The Lions continued to chip away throughout the half and came all the way back to tie the game on a three-pointer by Mike Boles with 8:43 left.
Albright took its first lead of the half (60-59) when Ben Gallagher canned a three-pointer with 5:19 on the clock. Gallagher's shot was the first of four straight lead changes over a 1:14 span. But Lebanon Valley took the lead for good when Byers nailed his final three-pointer.
Lebanon Valley returns to Commonwealth Conference action on Saturday when the team hosts Messiah College at 2 p.m. in the first game of a men's and women's doubleheader. The game will be the first basketball game ever in the new LVC Gymnasium.
[Photo - Senior guard Evan Harlor, who scored a season-high 16 points against Albright on Wednesday]
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