Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Senior guard J.D. Byers scored eight of his game-high 30 points during a decisive 12-0 Lebanon Valley second-half run, and the second-seeded Flying Dutchmen advanced to the MAC or Commonwealth Conference championship game for the first time in six years after defeating third-seeded Messiah 74-66 in the conference semifinals Wednesday evening in the LVC Gymnasium.
Lebanon Valley (19-5), which won its seventh game in a row and improved to 12-0 at home on the season, will visit top-seeded Albright in the Commonwealth Conference championship game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Albright knocked off fourth-seeded Elizabethtown 81-65 Wednesday evening in the other semifinal.
The winner of the Commonwealth Conference championship game will receive an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III championships.
Messiah (20-6) was paced by senior guard Dave Carter, who pumped in 17 points.
The win marked the Dutchmen’s first MAC or Commonwealth Conference playoff victory since LVC defeated DeSales 67-61 in the 2000 MAC quarterfinals. Lebanon Valley will now play in its first MAC or Commonwealth championship game since its 66-51 loss to Wilkes in the 1999 MAC championship.
With the Dutchmen leading 47-42, Byers dropped in a lay-up with 8:06 left to push the team’s advantage to seven. A bucket from junior forward Dan Hogan made it a nine-point game before Byers went to the foul line for a pair of free throws. Byers uncharacteristically missed both shots, but sophomore forward Billy Orr was there to pull down the offensive rebound. Orr kicked the ball out to Byers, who nailed a three from the left elbow to give the Valley a 54-42 lead with 7:20 left.
Byers splashed in another trey with 6:42 remaining as the Dutchmen’s lead swelled to 15, and a lay-up by sophomore guard Jimmy Curran gave LVC its largest lead of the night (59-42) with 6:21 left.
Messiah promptly called a full timeout, and a 13-4 Falcon run, capped by a lay-up by junior guard Quinn McCullough with 3:35 left, cut the deficit to eight (63-55). The Falcons still trailed by only eight (69-61) with 1:02 to go following a Carter lay-up, but the Dutchmen sealed their victory by making 5 of their final 6 free throws.
Byers, who with his first bucket became only the fifth player in school history to surpass 1,800 career points, shot 4-for-7 from three-point range and 12-for-14 at the foul line. He also handed out four assists.
Hogan posted his second double-double of the season with a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists while Curran finished with 12 points. Hogan and Curran each shot 5-for-7 from the field as part of a 50.0% shooting night for the Dutchmen. Senior center Brad Stigleman added seven points and seven rebounds.
McCullough finished with 15 points for Messiah while senior forward Dave Henninger had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Messiah led for the majority of the opening half after a three-pointer by senior guard Dave Carter put the Falcons up 3-2 two minutes into the half.
A Zach Wiernicki lay-up with 11:39 to go in the first half gave the Falcons their largest lead (15-9) of the stanza. Messiah led by five (22-17) with 4:18 on the clock after a Matt Henninger three-pointer, but the Dutchmen answered with a 5-0 surge, capped by a Byers three-pointer, to tie the game at 22. A jumper by Hogan with 1:26 to go gave the Dutchmen their first lead (26-25) since it was 2-0, and a lay-up by Orr with 46 seconds left tied it 28-28 at the half.
Dave Henninger had seven points and eight rebounds at the break while Byers had nine points.
Curran nailed a three-pointer with 14:11 left to hand LVC a lead (39-36) it would not relinquish the rest of the night.
Lebanon Valley, which entered the game leading Division III in field-goal percentage defense (35.4%), held Messiah to 33.9% shooting. After getting out-rebounded 52-33 in their last game against the Falcons, an 83-75 overtime loss in Grantham on Jan. 29, the Dutchmen held a 37-32 advantage on the boards.
[Photo - Junior forward Dan Hogan, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in Lebanon Valley's 74-66 Commonwealth Conference semifinal victory over Messiah on Wednesday]
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