Lebanon Valley 92, Hood 85
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, Anderson, Covey, Deihm
 
Hood Starters
Riley, M. Wang, Ruiz, E. Wang, Eversull
 
How It Happened
Lebanon Valley held off a scrappy Hood squad in the team's hard-fought 92-85 victory over its MAC Commonwealth foe at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 15.
 
Zach Tucker was impressive in racking up a game-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field for the Flying Dutchmen (4-7, 1-3 MAC Commonwealth). Mason Green netted 14 off the bench, Jeremy Deihm had 13 points and five rebounds, and AJ Catanzara chipped in with 10 tallies in 13 minutes of action.
 
Entering the second half facing a slim 38-37 deficit, LVC methodically slowed the visitors' uptempo attack and hit enough timely shots to pull ahead as the half neared the midway mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Derreck Orr Jr. and Catanzaro pushed the lead to nine with 11:12 remaining, giving the home team breathing room for the first time.
 
The Blazers (7-4, 2-3 MAC Commonwealth) responded, however, and eventually drew to within three thanks to Michael Riley's old-fashioned 3-point play with 8:45 left to play. From there, Green nearly singlehandedly sparked the Dutchmen offense, burying a pair of jumpers from beyond the arc and adding a pair of free throws for good measure. His effort put LVC out in front 77-67 with 5:54 to go.
 
With both teams having reached the double bonus, crunch time was contested at the foul line. Hood was able to cut the deficit to five at the 1:31 mark but Tucker and Green made the Blazers pay by converting from the charity stripe down the stretch. Catanzaro put things out of reach thanks to a trey with 53 seconds left and Chris Anderson finished it off with a layup off a Tucker feed in the closing moments.
 
Hood led by as many as seven late in the first half but much-needed 3-pointers kept the visitors from ever extending their advantage to double digits. The Dutchmen closed out the opening half on an 8-2 run, capped by a pair of Trevor Covey free throws, to cut the deficit to one at the break.
 
Inside the Numbers
- LVC shot a stellar 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from 3-point territory.
- The Dutchmen shot an even 50 percent from the field as a team.
- Lebanon Valley got 32 points from its bench, while the Blazers got 29 points from their reserves.
- The home team won the rebounding battle 35-31.
- LVC recorded assists on 25 of the team's 32 made field goals.
- Hood racked up 24 points off turnovers.
- Zach Tucker poured in a game-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
- Mason Green connected on four 3-balls en route to netting 14 points. He added four assists.
- Jeremy Deihm chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds.
- AJ Catanzaro posted 10 points, three rebounds, a pair of assists in just 13 minutes of work.
- Chris Anderson grabbed a team-high six boards to go along with eight points, three assists, and two steals.
- Justin Baker dished out a game-best seven assists. He also posted seven points and four rebounds.
- Mason Wang netted a team-high 23 points to lead Hood.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen play their final game of 2018 when they travel to Gwynedd Mercy for a non-conference tilt on Wednesday night, Dec. 19.
 
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