Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley junior guard J.D. Byers (Westminster, Md./Westminster) had a game to remember at Susquehanna University on Saturday afternoon.
Byers scored a game and season-high 28 points and became Lebanon Valley's 27th career 1,000-point scorer, leading the Flying Dutchmen to a 77-70 Commonwealth Conference victory.
With the win, LVC's sixth straight, the Dutchmen improved to 10-4 and 4-0 in conference play. Lebanon Valley's winning streak is its longest since winning nine straight in the 1998-99 season. The team is also off to its best start in Commonwealth play since opening 12-0 in 1998-99.
Susquehanna (10-4, 2-2 CC), which lost its second straight game after winning five in a row, was led by senior guard Chris Zimmerman, who scored a team-high 24 points.
Lebanon Valley snapped Susquehanna's 12-game regular season home winning streak.
Sophomore forward Dave Kasyan (Toms River, N.J./Toms River) added 14 points and a career-high seven rebounds for the Dutchmen while classmate Dan Hogan (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) added 13 points to go with a game and career-high 11 rebounds while shooting 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Senior guard Evan Harlor (Danville, Pa./Danville) contributed eight points while freshman guard Jimmy Curran (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) posted seven points and seven rebounds.
Byers scored 18 of his points on three-pointers. He shot 10-for-17 from the field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. Byers also handed out a team-high six assists.
Entering the game needing 11 points for the 1,000-point mark, Byers eclipsed the milestone when he knocked down a three-pointer with 6:52 left in the opening half.
The Dutchmen led by as much as eight (69-61) with 5:07 left, but Susquehanna stormed back with a 7-0 run to cut the gap to one with 2:36 remaining. However, the Crusaders missed their final four field goals, and LVC went 6-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
LVC jumped to a 12-7 lead 5:01 into the game, but a 13-3 Susquehanna run made it 20-15 in favor of the Crusaders with 11:18 left in the opening half. Susquehanna led by as much as six (25-19) with 7:16 remaining in the stanza, but the Dutchmen climbed back into it and trailed just 38-36 at the half.
The Crusaders came out on fire in the second half and increased its lead to eight (50-42) five minutes into the period. But the Valley answered with a 9-1 run to cut the gap to one (52-51) with 12:09 remaining. The Dutchmen came all the way back to take the lead (58-57) when Kasyan knocked down a jumper with 9:41 left, and LVC would never trail the rest of the way.
Lebanon Valley returns to action on Monday when it visits Scranton in a MAC non-conference game starting at 7 p.m.
[Photo - Junior guard J.D. Byers, who scored a game-high 28 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark in LVC's win at Susquehanna on Saturday]
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