Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran scored a game- and career-high 20 points, and Lebanon Valley held off a furious Moravian rally to defeat the Greyhounds 59-51 in a Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday evening at the LVC Gymnasium.

Trailing by 19 (43-24) with 13:10 left, Moravian (7-14, 5-5 CC) outscored the Flying Dutchmen 23-4 over the next 11 minutes, and a three-pointer by junior forward Ed Reid tied the game 47-47 with 2:29 remaining. But LVC answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Billy Orr to take a commanding eight-point lead with 25 seconds left.

With the win, Lebanon Valley (14-5, 6-4 CC) moved into a tie with Elizabethtown for third in the Commonwealth Conference standings.

Curran enjoyed an outstanding game shooting the ball, hitting on 4 of 7 three-point attempts and sinking all six of his free throws.

Senior center Brad Stigelman also recorded a career night for Lebanon Valley. He tied an LVC single-game record with a career-high six blocked shots, a mark that Dan Pfeil ’00 reached three times in his career. Stigelman also shot 7-for-9 from the floor and posted 14 points to go with seven rebounds.

Senior guard J.D. Byers added 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while senior forward Steve Buzinski had 13 rebounds. Orr contributed eight points and five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Michael Clemente and freshman guard Justin Chestnut paced Moravian with eight points apiece.

Lebanon Valley blocked a season-high 10 shots, and had an assist on 15 of its 20 field goals.

The Dutchmen, who entered the game ranked second in Division III in field-goal percentage defense (35.8%), held the Greyhounds to 30.9% shooting. LVC limited senior forward Brandon Zaleski, averaging 17.9 points per game, to five points on 1-of-11 shooting.

Lebanon Valley never trailed after scoring the game’s first seven points. A Chestnut lay-up with 2:56 left in the period ended a Moravian 5:43 scoreless drought, but the Dutchmen closed the half with a 10-0 flurry. Curran nailed back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 15-point game, and a Stigelman lay-up with 31 seconds on the clock gave LVC a 30-13 halftime lead.

The Dutchman defense stymied the Greyhounds into 20.0% shooting in the first half.

Curran’s fourth three-pointer of the night gave the Dutchmen their 19-point lead before the Greyhounds began to chip away. Moravian scored 14 unanswered points, and a Zaleski free throw made it a five-point (43-38) game with 6:21 left.

Orr caned a jumper from the right baseline with 5:49 to go to end the Dutchmen’s 7:21 scoring drought, but then Moravian began heating up from beyond the arc. A trey from Clemente with 4:39 to go cut the deficit to four (45-41), and sophomore forward Matt Devlin cut it to one with a three 49 seconds later. Stigelman converted a lay-up with 3:34 left before Reid’s game-tying three.

Curran put the Dutchmen ahead to stay when he hit a pair of free throws with 2:05 remaining. Byers came up with a steal and drove coast-to-coast for a lay-up 27 seconds later, and another Stigelman lay-up with 52 seconds left pushed the Dutchmen’s lead to six before Orr’s late free throws.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Saturday, when it visits Elizabethtown College at 4 p.m. in a big Commonwealth Conference contest.

[Photo - Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran, who scored a game- and career-high 20 points against Moravian]

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