Box Score Men's Basketball
Lebanon Valley 85, Delaware Valley 82

ANNVILLE, Pa. - A gritty performance by Lebanon Valley shook off Delaware Valley in an 85-82 win to end 2013 on a two-game winning streak.

The Dutchmen (3-6) simply couldn't shake a tough Aggies (5-5) squad down the stretch as the visitors nearly erased a 14-point lead with a pair of big second-half runs, despite missing key personnel in foul trouble.

Kyler Burke had a career-high 21 points with eight boards for LVC, including two critical late buckets, while Kevin Agnew scored a team-high 22 despite being saddled with early foul trouble. Luke Berguson also had a career-high day with a gutsy 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the post. The Dutchmen shot a season-best 55.3 percent and went to the line 34 times, making 27 opportunities.

Zach Sibel led Del Val with 22 points, and Francis Arnold scored 18 despite playing virtually the entire second half with four fouls. Delaware Valley racked up 27 personal fouls, including a pair of technicals, out of a combined 45 whistles in the game. The Aggies pulled back into the game on the back of strong outside shooting, draining 10 three-pointers led by Sibel's 5-of-6 afternoon from beyond the arc.

The Dutchmen took control of the game late in the first half, using a late 10-1 run to break a one-point game into a 37-28 lead. Six straight points by Agnew inside of 2:15 left gave LVC their largest lead of the game, and a Burke three-pointer to end the half put his side ahead 48-34.

The Aggies opened the second half strongly and found an 11-3 run - started and ended by Sibel threes - to cut the lead to 59-56 at the 14:19 mark, setting up a dogfight for the rest of the half. LVC re-established a 10-point lead before the Aggies again clawed back to within two after Chris Moran's jumper with 4:20 remaining, but two straight layups by Burke - the first in transition from Kevin Donahue and another wide-open look from Berguson - put the Dutchmen ahead 78-72 at the 3:29 mark and halted Del Val's momentum.

After Berguson made a big jumper inside of a minute, Arnold's three-pointer with 43 seconds left made it an 81-79 game, but Agnew and Travis Conrad stacked back-to-back free throw pairs to put the game out of reach despite a last-second Sibel three-pointer.

LVC will return to action in the new year, hosting Alvernia on Jan. 4.