Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Senior forward Dan Hogan scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds in his final game for Lebanon Valley as the Flying Dutchmen defeated Susquehanna University 63-53 in both teams’ season finale Saturday afternoon at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
Lebanon Valley, which won its sixth game in a row over the Crusaders, finishes the season 12-13 and 6-8 in the Commonwealth Conference while Susquehanna bows out at 10-15 and 6-8. LVC and Susquehanna finished the season tied for fifth in the conference standings.
Hogan, who tied his career-highs for steals (four)and rebounding, was one of four Dutchman starters to score in double figures. Junior guard Hunter Bretschneider scored all of his 11 points in the first half and registered a career-high four steals while junior forward Dave Kasyan and junior guard Jimmy Curran dropped in 10 points apiece. Kasyan also blocked four shots.
Brad Effler led the Crusaders with a game-high 15 points to go with 13 rebounds while Sean Ulichny notched 14 points in 22 minutes off the bench.
Susquehanna trailed just 55-53 with 2:32 to go following an Effler lay-up, but those were the Crusaders’ last points, as they missed their final six shots and turned the ball over twice.
Kasyan, who scored eight of LVC’s final 13 points, made it 56-53 with 2:12 to go after making 1-of-2 free throws. The Crusaders had an excellent chance to make it a one-point game when Chad Lauer stole an inbounds pass that led to a 3-on-1 break, but Todd DeNapoli missed a lay-up. Joel Patch picked up the rebound but had his put-back blocked by Kasyan, and LVC gained possession with 56 seconds left.
Kasyan then converted a lay-up, was fouled, and canned the ensuing free throw to make it 58-53 with 50 ticks showing. The Dutchmen nailed their final four free throws to clinch the victory.
Neither team led by more than six in an extremely tight first half. Although Susquehanna led for most of the way early on, the Dutchmen would not trail after a pair of free throws from freshman guard Dustin Kerns with 8:20 left in opening period gave LVC a 15-14 lead. Hogan, who had 10 of his rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, gave the Dutchmen a 36-30 halftime lead on a lay-up three seconds before the horn.
Lebanon Valley reached its largest lead of the afternoon when Curran nailed a jumper with 16:34 left, making it 42-32. It was a nine-point game (50-41) with 9:43 to go before a 7-0 Crusader run made it a one-bucket game with 8:00 on the clock. Susquehanna had a chance to tie or take the lead but committed a turnover with 7:24 left.
The Crusaders trailed by two on two more occasions, but they missed out on their final two chances to pull even. When it was 53-51, Susquehanna missed a three-pointer with 4:27 remaining before committing a turnover 49 seconds later.
Lebanon Valley shot 35.7% for the game while Susquehanna connected on only 32.8% of its shots. The two teams were a combined 3-for-33 from beyond the arc, with LVC going 1-for-14 and the Crusaders shooting 2-for-19.
The Dutchmen made twice as many free throws as the Crusaders. Lebanon Valley was 22-for-26 at the line while Susquehanna went 11-for-15.
[Photo - Senior forward Dan Hogan, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds in his final collegiate game on Saturday against Susquehanna]
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