Men's Basketball
Elizabethtown 72, Lebanon Valley 61
Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. - A late comeback attempt wasn't enough to overcome a slow start as Lebanon Valley started its Commonwealth Conference schedule with a 72-61 loss to Elizabethtown on Wednesday night.
Zach Kebetz drained a career-high 22 points for LVC, including six three-pointers.
The Dutchmen (4-2, 0-1 CC) had their four-game winning streak snapped as they shot 37.9% overall and just 10-for-20 at the line (including 5-for-14 in the second half). The Blue Jays (5-1, 1-0 CC) were led by Keith Fogel's 21 points and 18 from Joe Flanagan.
Kebetz exploded for 19 of his 22 points in the second half, canning six three-pointers to lead the late LVC charge.
Joe Meehan added 19 points in 37 minutes despite playing much of the second half in foul trouble.
The Dutchmen trimmed an 11-point deficit to four on Kebetz's final trey with 3:44 left in the game, but poor foul shooting ultimately doomed LVC's comeback bid as they went 1-for-7 at the line in the final three minutes.
E-town led wire-to-wire, holding LVC scoreless over the opening 4:14 and without a field goal until Meehan hit a fastbreak layup 5:35 into the game. In the meantime, Lebanon Valley shot just 8-of-25 in the half, allowing the Blue Jays to build a 34-22 halftime lead, their largest advantage of the half.
Things didn't get better in the second half as LVC couldn't find the twine and E-town built their lead to 14 on a Fogel three with 12:54 left. Kebetz began to turn things around, however, drilling consecutive three-pointers on two occassions to cut the lead to nine, then going back-to-back with Meehan to make it a four-point game with 3:44 to go.
Flanagan put Etown back up seven with a breakaway bucket seconds later, and after
Grant Becker missed a pair of foul shots, Dan Silver made two to extend the lead to eight. Kebetz was fouled taking a three with 1:03 left, but made just one shot, and Fogel iced the game with a pair with 53 ticks left.
LVC will head to Alvernia for a CC game on Saturday.
