Box Score
ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Junior guard J.D. Byers (Westminster, Md./Westminster) scored a game-high 22 points and hit two big free throws with 19 seconds left as the Flying Dutchmen defeated host Elizabethtown College 67-61 Saturday afternoon in a Commonwealth Conference tilt at Thompson Gymnasium.
Lebanon Valley (11-6, 5-1 CC) won for the seventh time in its last nine games and with Susquehanna's win over Widener, took sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth Conference standings. The Dutchmen also snapped the Blue Jays' eight-game winning streak.
LVC seemed to have the game in hand after a pair of Byers free throws gave the Dutchmen a 65-55 lead with 40 seconds left. However, E-town's Jon Conner canned a pair of three-pointers over a nine-second span to pull the Blue Jays to within four (65-61) with 26 seconds to go. But Byers, shooting 96.2% from the free-throw line coming into the game, hit two foul shots with 19 seconds left to seal the win for the Valley.
The Dutchmen held the Blue Jays to over 25 points below their season average. E-town entered the game averaging a conference-leading 86.8 points per game.
Connor led E-town (11-5, 3-3 CC) with a team-high 16 points.
Sophomore forward Dan Hogan (Scranton, Pa./West Scranton) added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting for LVC while senior guard Evan Harlor (Danville, Pa./Danville) and sophomore forward Dave Kasyan (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) tallied 10 points apiece. Kasyan and junior forward Steve Buzinski (West Pittston, Pa./Wyoming) recorded a team-high seven rebounds apiece.
Byers handed out a game-high five assists. He was 4-for-10 from three-point territory and 8-for-11 at the free-throw line.
Elizabethtown led for almost the entire first half and led by as much as nine points twice. LVC pulled to within one point on five occasions and trailed 35-34 at the half.
Kasyan drilled a three-pointer to start the second half for LVC, giving the Dutchmen their first lead since a Harlor layup put the Valley up 2-0 four seconds into the game. The game went back and forth for most of the second period, with six ties and eight lead changes over the opening 14:37. But the Dutchmen took the lead for good when Harlor broke a 51-51 tie after converting a free throw with 5:23 left.
Harlor's foul shot was the start of a 12-2 Valley run that gave LVC a 10-point lead (63-53) with 51 seconds left. The Blue Jays missed six straight field goals during the stretch, while Byers fueled the surge for LVC by scoring seven points.
Lebanon Valley held Elizabethtown to 34.3% shooting for the game and limited the Blue Jays to 27.3% shooting in the second half. The Dutchmen shot 44.9% for the game.
LVC returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts Juniata College in another Commonwealth contest starting at 7:30 p.m.
[Photo - Junior guard J.D. Byers, who scored a game-high 22 points in LVC's 67-61 win at Elizabethtown on Saturday]
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