Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Senior guard J.D. Byers scored a game-high 35 points, including 15 of the team’s final 18, and Lebanon Valley clinched a berth in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs with a 74-66 win over Elizabethtown Thursday evening in the LVC Gymnasium.

Lebanon Valley (17-5, 9-4 CC), which has won its last five games, has now qualified for the Commonwealth or MAC playoffs 13 years in a row and for 11 straight seasons under 11th-year Head Coach Brad McAlester. The Flying Dutchmen can finish no lower than third in the final conference standings.

Elizabethtown (13-11, 7-6 CC) must defeat Moravian on Saturday and/or have Messiah beat Widener in order to qualify for the conference playoffs.

Lebanon Valley improved to 10-0 at home on the season and snapped a four-game home losing streak against Elizabethtown. The Dutchmen’s last win over the Blue Jays in Annville was its 81-69 victory on Dec. 1, 1999.

Byers, who also scored 37 points in LVC’s win at E-town on Saturday, shot 8-for-16 from the floor and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. He was also 14-for-15 at the foul line, and his only miss snapped his streak of 33 consecutive free throws made.

Senior guard Kyle Conrad paced the Blue Jays with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Elizabethtown led for nearly the entire second half, and a put-back by senior forward Dan Keane gave the Jays a nine-point lead (53-44) with 9:29 remaining. However, an 8-0 Dutchman run made it a one-point game with 6:30 left.

With 2:57 to go, Byers drilled his third three-pointer of the night to tie the game for the first time since late in the first half. He nailed a pair of free throws with 2:35 remaining to give LVC its first lead (63-61) since early in the second half, then connected for another trey with 1:55 on the clock to break a 63-63 tie. After a lay-up by senior forward Andrew Flynn, Byers mesmerized the crowd with a sprawling, off-balance three-pointer from the right corner to put the Dutchmen up 69-65 with 1:05 left.

Lebanon Valley iced the game at the foul line down the stretch, making five of its final six shots from the charity stretch. A pair of free throws from senior forward Steve Buzinski  made it a six-point game (71-65) with 54 seconds left, and two Byers foul shots with 40 ticks showing pushed the Valley’s advantage to seven (73-66). Buzinski sealed the deal with another free throw with 27 seconds left, setting the final score.

Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran shot 6-for-8, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, to finish with 15 points for LVC. Buzinski added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds while senior center Brad Stigelman blocked five shots.

Junior forward Brian Schreiber added 11 points for E-town while Keane collected eight rebounds.

The Dutchmen led by five (15-10) midway through the first period before the Blue Jays reeled off nine straight points to assume a 19-15 lead with 7:04 left in the opening stanza. But Lebanon Valley closed the period on a 10-3 run, capped by a Stigelman jumper two seconds before the buzzer, and took a 30-26 lead into the locker room.

Lebanon Valley enjoyed a 35-33 lead with 15:45 left in the game after a Curran three-pointer, but E-town came back with eight straight points, giving the Jays the lead until the Dutchmen took control late.

The Dutchmen shot 51.2% from the field for the game, including 66.7% (8-for-12) from three-point range. Elizabethtown connected on 41.0% of its shots but was only 31.3% (5-for-16) from beyond the arc and just 55.0% (11-for-20) at the foul line.

Lebanon Valley closes out its regular season on Saturday when it hosts Juniata at 1 p.m. on Senior Day and Hot Dog Frank Day.

[Photo - Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran, who scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Curran was 3-for-3 from three-point range]

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