GRANTHAM, Pa. - Behind 27 points from Anthony Trautman, Lebanon Valley picked up a critical Commonwealth Conference win at Messiah Wednesday night, pulling away with a big second half to win 83-65.

The Dutchmen (10-6, 2-4 CC) snapped a three-game losing streak to Messiah (7-9, 2-4 CC), and it was the first win for LVC in Grantham since 2003-04. Combined with an earlier win by the LVC women, it was the first doubleheader sweep for the Dutchmen at Messiah since 2001-02.

Trautman shot 9-for-14 with four three-pointers to notch a game-high 27 points, and Joe Meehan added 23 with seven assists to lead a hot-shooting LVC team that finished 54.9% from the floor overall and 7-of-16 for three. The LVC defense also stepped up with 12 steals off 15 Messiah turnovers.

Messiah also shot well at a 50% clip, but was just 7-of-16 for the line and suffered a five-minute scoring drought in the second half that let LVC blow a nine-point lead to 19. David Fernandez and Tyler Ritzman led the Falcons with 10 points apiece.

The Dutchmen started hot, jumping out to an 18-4 lead, but Messiah quickly cooled them off and closed over the first half to get within six at the break.

Chris Yoder made the opening basket of the second half to pull the Falcons within four, but that would be as close as they'd get as Messiah suffered an early scoring drought that led LVC get out to a double-digit lead. After bringing it back to 49-43 on a Fernandez basket, the Dutchmen went on a 16-3 run that put the game firmly in their hands. The lead never dipped below 16 for the balance of the game as LVC picked up an important conference win.

LVC will finish the first half of conference play on Saturday, hosting Albright on Take A Kid To the Game Day. All kids 14 and under will be admitted free, with fun and games for the family starting at 3 p.m.