Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore guard J.D. Byers (Westminster, Md./Westminster) scored a team-high 25 points and senior center Darren Pugh (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) notched 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, lifting Lebanon Valley to a 76-64 Commonwealth Conference victory over Widener University Saturday afternoon in Lynch Gymnasium.

Byers shot 7-for-9 from the field and a sizzling 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Pugh managed his Commonwealth-leading 12th double-double of the season.

Sophomore guard Casey Stitzel paced Widener (7-13, 3-7 CC) with a game-high 34 points. The loss was the Pioneers’ third straight and the fifth in their last six games. Widener played the game without its third and fourth-leading scorers--senior forward Markiese Merceir (10.6 ppg) and freshman center Kris Clarkson (9.9 ppg).

Byers started the game on fire, scoring the team’s first seven points and 10 of the Dutchmen’s first 12 over the opening 5:12. Lebanon Valley (9-12, 4-6 CC) went on a 14-2 run in the early going to build a 17-6 lead. The surge gave the Flying Dutchmen the lead for good.

LVC led by as much as 14 (33-19) in the opening half. The Dutchmen took a 33-21 lead into the locker room with Byers shooting 4-for-4 from three point range to lead all scorers with 13 points.

Lebanon Valley scored the first four points of the second half to go ahead by 17 (38-21), the team’s largest lead of the game. But the Pioneers answered with a 14-2 run over a 3:38 span to cut the gap to five (40-35) with 15:21 left.

Widener trailed by only six (54-48) with 7:22 to go but that’s as close as the Pioneer would get the rest of the way. A 5-0 surge by LVC pushed the Dutchmen’s lead (59-48) back to double digits with 6:12 remaining. The Valley sealed the deal down the stretch by shooting 6-for-6 from the foul line over the final 1:25.

Stitzel scored 28 of his points in the second half.

The Dutchmen will continue their hunt for a Commonwealth playoff berth when they host Albright College in another conference affair on Wednesday in the nightcap of a men’s and women’s doubleheader at 8 p.m.

[Photo - Sophomore guard J.D. Byers, who scored a team-high 25 points. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point territory.]

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