Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley held Susquehanna to 23.3% shooting and overcame a miserable offensive game of its own, as the 17th-ranked Flying Dutchmen topped the Crusaders 44-34 in Commonwealth Conference action Saturday afternoon at the LVC Gymnasium.

With the win, Lebanon Valley’s 11th in a row, the Dutchmen improved to 12-1 and maintained their hold on first place in the Commonwealth Conference at 4-0. LVC is on its longest winning streak since 1998-99, when the Valley started the season 12-0, and has matched the 1998-99 team’s 12-1 start.

Senior forward Steve Buzinski led the Valley with 12 points and seven rebounds while senior guard J.D. Byers was held to a season-low 11 points on 2-of-15 shooting. Junior guard Dan Hogan tore down a game- and career-high 13 rebounds for LVC.

Senior forward Bubba Mills paced the Crusaders (3-11, 0-4 CC) with 17 points and nine rebounds while freshman forward Mike Malko posted 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Dutchmen’s 44 points marked their lowest offensive output since their 47-44 loss to Ursinus on Nov. 26, 2000. The last time Lebanon Valley scored as few as 44 points and won was on Dec. 15, 1981, when the Dutchmen defeated Muhlenberg 36-34. The Crusaders’ 34 points marked the fewest points by an LVC opponent since the Dutchmen’s 63-32 win over Gettysburg in 1990.

Susquehanna suffered its lowest point total since its 24-22 loss to Scranton on Feb. 19, 1970.

Lebanon Valley trailed only 16-12 at halftime despite shooting only 17.9% in the opening half. However, the Dutchmen, who entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage defense, held the Crusaders to a paltry 20.6% shooting percentage over the opening 20 minutes.

The Dutchmen had no trouble scoring in the early going, jumping out to a 10-2 lead over the game’s opening 4:56 after back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore guard Jimmy Curran. However, LVC went on to shoot 1-for-18 over the rest of the half, with Curran scoring the team’s final points of the stanza on a layup with 9:08 left in the period.

After falling behind by eight, Susquehanna rallied with a 14-2 run over an 8:26 stretch to take a 16-12 lead with 6:02 remaining in the opening half. But the Crusaders were unable to score the rest of the way and missed their final seven shots of the half.

After shooting 0-for-8 and scoring no points in the first half, Byers got things turned around for the Valley early in the second stanza. Byers scored eight straight points over a 1:34 span early in the period on a pair of free throws and back-to-back threes to give the Dutchmen a 20-16 lead with 16:35 left. LVC would never trail the rest of the way.

The Crusaders trailed just 28-23 with 10:08 remaining after a Malko three-pointer but the Dutchmen answered with an 8-2 run, with Buzinski and senior guard Matt Polinsky scoring four points apiece, to open up a double-digit lead (36-25) with 5:53 left. Lebanon Valley’s lead would reach as much as 13 and Susquehanna was unable to get it under nine the rest of the way.

Lebanon Valley shot 45.8% in the second half while the Crusaders were just 26.9% from the field.

Susquehanna shot 16.7% (3-for-18) from three-point range for the game. The Crusaders made only three trips to the foul line, but made all three.

The Dutchmen shot 30.8% (4-for-13) from behind the arc and went 57.1% (8-for-14) at the foul line.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits Widener University at 7 p.m. in another Commonwealth Conference contest.

[Photo - Junior forward Dan Hogan, who posted a career-high 13 rebounds in Lebanon Valley's 44-34 win over Susquehanna on Saturday]

-lvc-