Franklin & Marshall 101, Lebanon Valley 98
 
LVC Starters
Light, Bugg, Anderson, Orr, Boccanfuso
 
F&M Starters
Groll, Tate, Federici, Owona, Slyka
 
How It Happened
Lebanon Valley had its chances in crunch time but ultimately suffered its first loss of the young season when it fell 101-98 in double overtime at Franklin & Marshall on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 26.
 
Foul trouble cost the Flying Dutchmen (4-1) a pair of starters in the second extra session and the Diplomats (5-0) were able to break open a 90-90 stalemate with less than two minutes left to play and push the slim advantage to 97-90 with a little more than 30 seconds remaining. LVC cut the deficit to one possession with four seconds left but the comeback effort ran out of time.
 
The back-and-forth affair saw seven lead changes and eight ties in the final 20 minutes. The Dutchmen led by as many as five points in the second half when Zach Tucker converted a pair of free throws with 6:22 remaining.
 
F&M reclaimed the lead with 4:19 left and held it until Chris Anderson banked in a runner to knot the score up at 76 with 2:03 remaining and Ricky Bugg followed it up with a go-ahead jumper on the team's next possession.
 
Luke Stambaugh knocked down two foul shots with 30 seconds left to play to put the Dutchmen out in front 80-78 but the Dips' Matt Groll got a friendly roll on a dive down the lane with 11 ticks left to force the first overtime period.
 
Bugg, Anderson, and Andy Orr combined to net LVC's six points in overtime, with Orr's contested layup with 1:52 proving the equalizer that forced a second extra session.  
 
Turning Point
With Franklin & Marshall clinging to a two-point advantage with 1:44 remaining in the second overtime session, the Diplomats forced a turnover on an LVC inbounds attempt and quickly turned the errant pass into a layup to put the home team ahead 94-90 with 1:32 to play. Lebanon Valley's next possession ended with a shot clock violation and the Dips added a pair of free throws on the other end to cushion the lead with 50 seconds remaining. The Dutchmen cut the deficit to three points with four ticks left but ultimately ran out of time.
 
Game of Attrition
In a contest that needed a pair of overtimes to decide the final outcome, foul trouble played a role down the stretch. The teams combined to see six players foul out, with Sam Light, Will Boccanfuso, and Zach Tucker watching the end of the game from the sideline for LVC and Justin Kupa, Lionel Owona, and Ignas Slyka closing out the contest on the bench for F&M.
 
Inside the Numbers
- Sunday's contest was LVC's first game that reached double overtime since a 64-62 victory over Alvernia on Feb. 19, 2011.
- It was a tightly-contested game, with LVC's largest lead only reaching eight points and the Diplomats' largest advantage reaching seven.
- F&M made the Dutchmen pay for their mistakes and scored 25 points off turnovers.
- Lebanon Valley turned it over 26 times, while Franklin & Marshall committed just 12 turnovers.
- The Dips also scored 22 second chance points, compared to just 13 by LVC.
- Franklin & Marshall won the rebounding battle 47-43.
- The Diplomats scored 46 of their points in the paint. Lebanon Valley posted 32 points in the paint.
- Andy Orr recorded his third double-double of the season with team-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds. He added a pair of blocks and two assists.
- Sam Light had netted a game-high 23 points for the Dutchmen before fouling out late in the second half. He also dished out four assists.
- Chris Anderson, Ricky Bugg, and Zach Tucker all contributed in a big way on the offensive side, finishing with 13 points apiece.
- Bugg and Will Boccanfuso each pulled in seven rebounds, while Anderson led the team with five assists.
- F&M's Matt Groll scored a game-high 29 points and added 10 points to record a double-double.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen open MAC Commonwealth play at Widener on Wednesday night, Nov. 29.