Lebanon Valley 56, Alvernia 50

LVC Starters
Yoh, Lehr, Eck, Evans, Lantz

AU Starters
A. Zerbe, T. Zerbe, Cooper, Hoover, Andrefski

How It Happened
READING, Pa. – Lebanon Valley held off Alvernia for a 56-50 victory and its second-consecutive MAC Commonwealth win on Saturday afternoon. The Dutchmen jumped over the .500 mark and improved to 4-3, 2-0 MACC, while the Crusaders fell to 0-6, 0-2 MACC.

Alvernia opened up action with a 3-pointer from Liv Andrefski, only to see LVC go on a mini 8-3 run and held an early 8-4 lead with 6:22 to go in the first. After the Crusaders tied things up at 8-8 at 5:13, Becky Evans nailed a trey at 4:49 to put the Dutchmen back up at 11-8. Alvernia brought itself back to within two with a free throw, but Morgan Bamberger hit another triple for LVC at 1:51 to put the Dutchmen back up by five at 14-9. Maya Cooper hit a jumper in the final minute, but LVC took a 14-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

Points were hard to come by in the second, but with LVC up 18-13 at 6:06, Taylor Troutman broke out in the fast break and made a layup to put the Dutchmen up 20-13. The two teams traded off a few buckets in the final few minutes, but LVC took a 22-17 advantage going into halftime.

For most of the third quarter, the Dutchmen held a comfortable lead and where ahead 31-22 at 3:47 off a good free throw by Hilary Yoh, but Alvernia ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to come to within two at 31-29 heading into the final quarter of action.

In the fourth, LVC opened up the quarter on a mini 6-2 run to give itself a little more breathing room at 37-31 with 8:20 remaining. The Dutchmen kept extending the lead and eventually led by 17 at 51-34 with just 5:24 remaining in the game, but the Crusaders made it a game with a 16-2 run that spanned just under five minutes to bring the score to 53-50 in favor of LVC with seven seconds to go. Alvernia was forced to foul, and with six seconds left, Anne Lehr made a huge free throw that put the Dutchmen up by four at 54-50 and they held on for the 56-50 win.

It Was Over When
Lehr all but iced the game for LVC with a big free throw with six seconds left that put the Dutchmen up by four.

Inside the Numbers
 - Becky Evans paced LVC with 15 points, while Lexie Lantz scored 14 points.
 - Lehr finished with nine points and Troutman chipped in six.
 - For the Crusaders, Andrefski scored a game-high 25, while Kiersten Ingram added 10.
 - LVC outshot Alvernia 37.5-percent to 28.3-percent.
 - The Crusaders held the slight edge in total rebounds at 40-39.
 - LVC took advantage of 22 Alvernia turnovers, turning them into 27 points.

Who's Next?
Conference action continues on Wednesday when Stevenson pays a visit to Sorrentino Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.