Lebanon Valley 64, Messiah 56

ANNVILLE, Pa. - Anthony Trautman and Jordan Stewart combined for 44 points to lead Lebanon Valley to a gutsy 64-56 league win over Messiah Wednesday night, moving them into a tie for second in the Commonwealth Conference standings.

On a topsy-turvey night in the CC, the Dutchmen (16-6, 7-4 CC) held on to win while Elizabethtown lost at Lycoming and Albright edged Arcadia. LVC is now tied with Albright and E-town for second, two games back of Alvernia, which lost at Widener. The Dutchmen won their seventh straight game, six of those conference wins.

Playing without point guard Joe Meehan, the short-handed Dutchmen started slowly but rallied to take a halftime lead in a game that featured 14 lead changes.

Trautman poured in 24 - his eighth consecutive 20+ point game - while Stewart added 20 with four steals, and both guards grabbed seven boards. Danny Brooks pitched in nine points and eight boards, while Grant Becker scored eight.

Tyler Ritzman led Messiah with 13, and Andy Hawk scored 10 off the bench.

Messiah took a quick lead to start the game, but the Dutchmen quickly closed the gap to lead 34-33 at the break. Messiah swung the game back their way to start the second, setting off a string of lead changes that ended with a 7-0 Falcon run midway through the half to put them up seven.

The LVC defense quickly stepped up and held Messiah scoreless across a 5:42 span after Trey Ritzman's layup with 9:07 remaining; in the meantime, baskets by Brooks, Trautman, and Becker retook the lead, and a key three-point play from Jordan Stewart made the lead 55-51 with 4:12 to play.

Messiah broke the drought with Jeremiah Runkle's basket at 3:25, but Brooks answered with another three-point play, and the Dutchmen made 6-of-8 foul shots in the final minute to win.

LVC heads to Albright on Saturday in a key CC match-up.