Lebanon Valley 82, Messiah 63

LVC Starters
Davis, Light, Conrad, Boccanfuso, Orr

Messiah Starters
Clippinger, Long, Hess, Cable, McWilliams

How It Happened
In a battle of suddenly surging squads, Lebanon Valley used a balanced attack to earn an 82-63 victory over MAC Commonwealth rival Messiah at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Wednesday night, Jan. 18.

Four players in Sam Light, Andy Orr, Travis Conrad, and Ricky Bugg reached the double-digit scoring mark for the Flying Dutchmen (11-6, 5-3 MAC Commonwealth) and LVC halted a Messiah team that entered Wednesday's contest having won six of its previous eight outings.

LVC jumped out to a 10-3 advantage thanks to a couple of fast-break layups by Will Boccanfuso and Marquis Davis in the early going before Orr capped the opening spurt with his second layup of the evening at the 14:54 mark.

The Falcons (8-8, 3-5 MAC Commonwealth) responded with a run and back-to three-pointers from Colin Sareyka and Neil Murren gave the visitors their first advantage midway through the first half, while Josh Darville's old-fashioned three-point play at the 7:33 mark made it 25-23 Messiah.

Trailing 30-28 with 6:29 left before halftime, LVC charged back with a 17-2 run to end the first half. Bugg starred during the crucial span, netting nine points during the run. His straightaway trey off a Conrad assist put the Dutchmen up 43-32 at the 1:20 mark and Light capped the stretch with a jumper to make it 45-32 heading into the break.

Lebanon Valley continued the charge to begin the second half and pulled ahead by 20-plus for the first time when Light drove to the bucket and converted a layup with 15:04 remaining. Collin Moore's layup made it 62-42 LVC midway through the first half before Conrad's late triples gave the team its largest lead of the night at 22 with 3:31 left to play.

Inside the Numbers
- With the victory, LVC has won seven of its last eight games.
- The Dutchmen shot a stellar 56.9 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three-point territory.
- Lebanon Valley scored 36 points in the paint and got 22 points from its reserves, led by Ricky Bugg's season-high 12 points on 4-4 shooting from the floor.
- Sam Light was efficient and netted his game-high 21 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. He also pulled in seven rebounds.
- Andy Orr worked through some physical Falcon defense to net 15 and grabbed eight boards.
- Travis Conrad, the reigning MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week, stayed hot and posted 14 points thanks to four buckets from beyond the arc.
- Will Boccanfuso corralled a game-high nine rebounds for LVC, while Marquis Davis dished out a game-best five assists.
- Colin Sareyka scored a team-high 14 points for Messiah, while Josh Clippinger netted 13 and grabbed seven rebounds.
- Neil Murren was the third Falcon to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 10.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen are back at it when they host Alvernia at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.