Lebanon Valley 72, Messiah 69
 
LVC Starters
Light, Gilbert, Moore, Orr, Barwin
 
Messiah Starters
Sareyka, Darville, Hess, Eberle, Murren
 
How It Happened
In a game that came down to the final seconds, Lebanon Valley defeated Messiah 72-69 at Sorrentino Gymnasium in the team's regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 17. With the victory, the Flying Dutchmen (16-9, 10-6 MAC Commonwealth) wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournament.
 
On a day when he was recognized for becoming just the third player in program history to score 2,000 career points, Sam Light led the way with a game-high 30 tallies and eight rebounds. Teammate Andy Orr surpassed the 1,900-point mark for his career on Saturday thanks to 16 points. He added eight boards and five blocks. Caleb Barwin was the third Dutchman to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 11 points.
 
With Lebanon Valley holding a 68-66 lead following a Will Boccanfuso free throw with 1:20 remaining, Messiah's Matt Hess banked in a desperation 3-ball with the shot clock winding down to give the Falcons (14-11, 8-8 MAC Commonwealth) a one-point lead with 54 seconds left to play.
 
One of the defining moments of LVC's season followed, as the Dutchmen defended their home court by finishing the game on a 4-0 run that started when Light buried a clutch jumper off a Barwin assist with 40 ticks remaining. After getting a defensive stop, Orr was fouled and converted the first of two foul shots to make it 71-69 with 11 seconds left before Boccanfuso ended Messiah's next possession with a steal in the paint. The Falcons fouled Light, he connected on the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2.8 remaining, and the visitors failed to get off an attempt before the final horn sounded.
 
The Dutchmen led by six at halftime, stretched the advantage to as many eight when Barwin converted an attempt from beyond the arc at the 17:02 mark of the second half, and took their largest lead of the game at 52-43 thanks to a Light 3-ball with 14:39 left to play.
 
The Falcons clawed back and eventually used a 7-0 run to nab the lead for the first time in the second half at the 10:29 mark but a Light triple ended the run and halted the visitors' momentum heading into crunch time.
 
A combination of Orr, Light, Barwin, and Boccanfuso made key plays and converted timely baskets to keep LVC out in front until Hess' last-minute heave gave Messiah its final lead of the day, setting up a memorable finish in front of a full house of Dutchmen faithful.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The victory clinched LVC's third consecutive playoff appearance.
- Each teams shooting number basically mirrored the other, with the Dutchmen shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point territory and Messiah shooting 44.8 percent from the floor and 36 percent from distance.
- The Falcons won the rebounding battle 37-32 but managed just six second-chance points.
- Lebanon Valley committed a season-low four turnovers.
- Sam Light netted a game-high 30 points and pulled in a team-best eight rebounds to go along with three steals.
- Andy Orr scored 16 points to go along with a team-best eight boards. He finished the season averaging 19.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, and two blocks per outing.
- Caleb Barwin was the third LVC player to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 11 tallies. Nine of his points came from 3-point territory.
- Will Boccanfuso grabbed seven rebounds to go along with three points.
- Ricky Bugg scored four points, while Brett Gilbert and Ricky Bugg added three tallies apiece.
- Colin Sareyka scored a team-high 22 points for the Falcons.
- Messiah's Josh Darville pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds.
 
Light Wins Scoring Title
For the second year in a row, Sam Light ended the season as the MAC Commonwealth's top scorer. The senior racked up a 23.1 points per game scoring average this winter and he averaged 2.5 more tallies per outing than the runner-up. Among NCAA Division III players, he currently ranks among the nation's top-20 scorers.  
 
Playoff Picture
LVC's victory, combined with Albright's come-from-behind win over Lycoming later in the day, earned the Dutchmen the No. 2 seed and a home game in next week's MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournament. Albright is the top seed and Lyco is the three, while No. 4 Messiah will host No. 5 Arcadia in the tourney's play-in game on Monday night.
 
Senior Day
Prior to Saturday's contest, Lebanon Valley's Class of 2018 was honored during a Senior Day ceremony. The group, consisting of seniors Caleb Barwin, Will Boccanfuso, Ricky Bugg, Brett Gilbert, Sam Light, Collin Moore, and Andy Orr combined for 60 wins and three postseason appearances the past four years, to go along with numerous national accolades and conference honors.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen will try to defeat a talented Lycoming squad for the third time this season when they host the Warriors for postseason semifinal action on Wednesday night, Feb. 21.  

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