Box Score
READING, Pa. – Senior forward Ben Gallagher scored a team-high 17 points and top-seeded Albright won its first conference championship since 1977, defeating second-seeded Lebanon Valley 81-68 in the Bollman Center in the Commonwealth Conference title game Saturday evening.
With the win, the Lions (20-6) receive an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III tournament. Lebanon Valley (19-6), which lost for the first time in its last eight games, will hope for one of seven Pool C at-large bids in the NCAA tournament, or an ECAC Southern Region tournament bid. The NCAA tournament brackets will be announced on Sunday evening at 10:30, and ECAC tournament pairings come out on Monday.
Albright senior guard Elu Lawrence was named tournament MVP. Lawrence scored 14 points in the championship game and guarded LVC senior guard J.D. Byers the entire game. Byers finished with a game-high 20 points but six were scored on a pair of three-pointers in the game's final minute with the Lions holding a double-digit lead.
After leading 31-27 at halftime, the Lions took control of the game with some torrid outside shooting to open the second half. Albright outscored the Dutchmen 11-4 to start the second half with Gallagher, sophomore guard Matt Kieselowsky, and Lawrence each hitting a three-pointer during the run. A Gallagher lay-up with 15:57 to go gave the Lions their first double-digit lead (42-31) of the night.
Lebanon Valley cut the deficit to six (44-38) following a 7-2 Dutchman run, capped by a pair of Byers free throws with 12:01 left. After the Lions extended their advantage to 12 on three occasions, LVC made it a nine-point game (59-50) after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jimmy Curran. But Albright came right back with a three-pointer by Lawrence, and the Lions' lead would not dip below double digits the rest of the way.
The Dutchmen trailed by 12 (66-54) with 3:06 remaining after a fastbreak lay-up by junior forward Dan Hogan. But Lebanon Valley was forced to foul down the stretch, and Albright sealed their championship by making 13 of 14 free throws in the game's final 2:20.
In the first half, Lebanon Valley led 12-10 after a lay-up by senior center Brad Stigleman with 11:08 left in the period. But Albright reeled off a 10-0 run to go ahead 20-12 with 9:16 on the clock. The Dutchmen answered with a 10-2 run of their own, capped by a lay-up from sophomore forward Billy Orr, to tie the game 24-24 with 4:15 remaining in the opening stanza. Albright closed the half on a 7-2 spurt to stake their 31-27 lead at the intermission.
Curran and senior forward Steve Buzinski scored 13 points apiece for LVC while Orr had nine points and five rebounds. Hogan posted five points and six rebounds, and Stigelman finished with six points, four rebounds, and four blocked shots.
Albright sophomore forward Michael Boles, averaging 3.8 points per game before the championship tilt, scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 16 minutes off the bench. Kieselowsky had 12 points and four assists.
Lebanon Valley shot 52.1% for the game while Albright hit on 48.1% of its shots. After shooting just 20.0% (2-of-10) from three-point range in the first half, the Lions were 5-for-9 from beyond the arc in the second period.
Albright shot 78.6% (22-for-28) at the free-throw line while the Dutchmen made only 58.3% (14-for-24) of their foul shots.
The Lions out-rebounded LVC 34-26.
Lebanon Valley was making its first appearance in the MAC or Commonwealth Conference championship game since their loss to Wilkes in the 1999 MAC championship.
[Photo - Senior center Brad Stigelman, who had six points, four rebounds, and four blocked shots in the Commonwealth Conference championship game]
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