Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley erased a 10-point deficit in the game’s final minutes, but Albright hung on down the stretch to hand the Flying Dutchmen a 72-65 defeat in Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball action Tuesday evening at the LVC Gymnasium.
With the loss, Lebanon Valley (14-10, 6-7 CC) drops to a game-and-a-half out of the fourth and final Commonwealth Conference playoff spot. No other conference games were played on Tuesday due to inclement weather.
Senior guard Jimmy Curran shot 13-for-14 at the free-throw line to finish with a game-high 20 points for the Dutchmen while junior center Kyle Brudvig posted 18 points and seven rebounds for Albright (10-13, 5-8 CC).
The Lions led 62-52 with 5:48 left before Lebanon Valley stormed back with a 10-0 run. Curran connected on back-to-back jumpers, then found sophomore forward Eric Humphrey for a wide-open lay-up to make it 62-58 with 4:00 to go. Sophomore guard Kyle Enoch made it a one-possession game (62-60) when he gathered in a long rebound and went coast-to-coast for a bucket.
Freshman forward Dan Dunkelberger tied the game with a pair of free throws with 2:23 on the clock before Albright ended its drought on an Albert Medoro jumper 16 seconds later. The Dutchmen had a chance to take the lead on the next possession, but a 3-pointer from senior guard Hunter Bretschneider was off the mark. Brudvig nudged Albright’s lead to four (66-62) with 56 seconds left, when he put back his own blocked shot.
Dunkelberger brought the Dutchmen to within a point on a conventional 3-point play with 44 ticks showing, as he got spun free down the right side of the lane after a nice up-and-under move. Lebanon Valley then elected to foul Medoro on an inbounds pass with 31 seconds left, and Medoro sunk both shots to push the Albright lead back to three (68-65). Freshman guard CJ Jewell then blocked a 3-point attempt from Enoch, and freshman guard Andre Murphy iced the game with a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left.
Murphy finished with 15 points for the Lions, who held LVC to 31.6% shooting. Medoro had eight points and 11 rebounds.
Enoch recorded 12 points and seven rebounds for the Valley.
Albright found itself in foul trouble early on, as the Lions were whistled for their seventh foul with 14:25 left in the opening half. Lebanon Valley took advantage, making 17 of their 21 free-throw attempts in the opening half, with Curran going 11-for-12 at the charity stripe. The Dutchmen’s production at the foul line offset their cold shooting from the field, as LVC shook off a 22.2% field-goal percentage in the opening half. The Lions led by eight (26-18) with 2:59 on the clock, but the Valley closed the half on a 12-4 run, as sophomore guard Dan Hodge fed junior forward Peter Ruth for a fastbreak lay-up just before the buzzer to tie the game at 30-all heading into the locker room.
It was a back-and-forth affair at the start of the second half, when there were four ties and five lead changes over the opening 6:15 of the stanza. Albright never trailed after a lay-up from sophomore center Phil Hall with 13:45 on the clock, which gave the Lions a 44-43 lead. The Dutchmen kept it close until a 7-0 Albright run gave the Lions their late 10-point lead.
Albright overcame 29.4% (5-for-17) 3-point shooting to finish 43.1% from the field while making 81.0% (17-for-21) of its free throws.
Lebanon Valley finished 78.1% (25-for-32) at the foul line.
Lebanon Valley plays its regular season finale on Saturday, when it hosts Susquehanna University at 3 p.m. on Senior Day and Hot Dog Frank Day.
[Photo - Freshman forward Dan Dunkelberger, who scored five of his eight points in the final 2:23 of LVC's 72-65 loss to Albright on Tuesday]
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