Lebanon Valley 61, Hood 56
 
LVC Starters
Lehr, Bamberger, Kline, Mealey, Venezia
 
Hood Starters
Wright, Pitt, Savoy, Tien, Ford
 
How It Happened
Lebanon Valley turned it on down the stretch to complete a 61-56 come-from-behind victory over MAC Commonwealth foe Hood at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 15.
 
Morgan Bamberger led the way for the Flying Dutchmen (5-5, 3-1 MAC Commonwealth) with a game-high 17 points, while Emily Mealey just missed out on a double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. Anne Lehr was the third LVC player to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 11 and five assists, while Jen Eck was solid off the bench with six points, seven boards, and five assists.
 
With her team trailing by two with less than two minutes left to play, Bamberger hit the biggest shot of the game when she buried an elbow 3-pointer off a feed from Eck to put the home team ahead 57-56 with 1:23 remaining.
 
Bamberger followed it up with a defensive rebound on the other end before finding Mealey in the low post on the team's ensuing possession. Mealey forced her way to the rim, shrugged off a Hood foul, and laid home an attempt off glass to put LVC out in front by three with 41 seconds left.
 
The Blazers (3-8, 1-4 MAC Commonwealth) had an opportunity to draw even with less than 30 seconds remaining but a turnover forced the visitors to foul in crunch time. Lehr converted two free throws in the game's final 17 seconds before a thunderous rejection by Molly Galvin as the buzzer sounded put an exclamation point on the hard-fought victory.
 
The Dutchmen trailed by five midway through the fourth quarter but the group turned it up on the defensive end and limited Hood to just two points in the contest's final 3:51, making possible the team's comeback effort.
 
The visitors jumped out to a 13-4 advantage in the game's opening minutes but Lebanon Valley erased the deficit in the closing seconds of the first quarter when Bamberger converted a layup off a nice pass from Eck just before the horn sounded.
 
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Dutchmen close the frame on a 4-0 run thanks to back-to-back midrange jumpers from Lehr. The mini-spurt allowed LVC to take a 26-22 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
 
Inside the Numbers
- LVC's defense limited the Blazers to 26.9 percent shooting from the floor, including a 21.1 percent clip from beyond the arc.
- Hood finished with a 54-40 advantage on the glass.
- The Blazers were strong from the charity stripe, shooting 88.9 percent (16-of-18) for the game.
- The visitors got 18 points from their bench, while Lebanon Valley's reserves added 15.
- The Dutchmen netted 22 points in the paint.
- LVC assisted on 16 of the team's 23 made field goals.
- Morgan Bamberger racked up a game-high 17 points and dished out three assists.
- Emily Mealey finished one rebound shy of a double-double, with 12 points and nine boards.
- Anne Lehr netted 11 to go along with five assists and a pair of rejections.
- Jen Eck provided a spark off the bench and finished with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.
- Veronica Venzia and Megan Bisco added six points apiece.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen are on short rest as they get back to it when they travel to Marywood for non-conference action on Monday night, Dec. 17.

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