NCAA Division III Championship Tournament First Round
No. 18 Middlebury 83, Lebanon Valley 63
 
LVC Starters
Light, Bugg, Anderson, Orr, Boccanfuso
 
Middlebury Starters
Folger, Dahleh, Daly, Farrell, Tarantino
 
How It Happened
Lebanon Valley's memorable 2017-18 campaign came to an end on Friday night, March 2 when the Flying Dutchmen (18-10) dropped an 83-63 decision to No. 18 Middlebury in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament at Eastern Connecticut State in Willimantic, Conn.
 
LVC led twice and hung tight with the nationally-ranked Panthers (20-6) well into the second half before Middlebury put together a game-changing, 10-run midway through the final 20 minutes to push the team's lead to double digits for the first time since the game's opening moments.
 
Andy Orr led the way for the Dutchmen, recording a double-double with team-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Running mate Sam Light was the second LVC player to reach the double-digit scoring mark with 15 tallies, while Caleb Barwin and Zach Tucker finished just shy of double digits with nine and eight points, respectively.
 
Lebanon Valley started slow out of the blocks and fell behind 10-0 to begin the game before reeling off 10 of the contest's next 12 points to climb back in it.
 
The Dutchmen took their first lead of the night when Orr put a Middlebury post player in the blender, converting a layup in the paint following a nifty move that freed him up from point-blank range to make it 16-15 at the 11:14 mark. Barwin added a 3-ball the next time down the floor to give LVC its largest advantage of the game.
 
The Panthers responded with a 9-0 run and things remained close the rest of the first half, with Lebanon Valley using a late 7-0 spurt capped by Light's old-fashioned 3-point play and another Orr layup to pull ahead 36-35 with 1:26 left.
 
Middlebury held a slim 40-36 lead at the break and LVC continued to keep it close after halftime, with a pair of Orr free throws cutting the deficit to 50-46 with 14:38 left to play.
 
The ensuing run by the Panthers, however, put Lebanon Valley in a hole from which it was unable to climb out. Light momentarily stopped the bleeding with a jumper from beyond the arc with 10:40 remaining but the Dutchmen were unable to cut the deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
 
Inside the Numbers
- The rebounding battle tells the story of the game, with Middlebury's large lineup wearing down the Dutchmen in the second half and finishing with 49-29 edge on the glass.
- The Panthers managed 42 of their point total in the paint, while LVC scored just 18 points down low.
- Middlebury also scored 23 points off Lebanon Valley turnovers.
- Andy Orr's double-double was his 13th of the season. In addition to his 18 points and 10 rebounds, he also added a game-high four blocks.
- Sam Light was the second LVC player to score in double figures with 14 points. He also grabbed six boards.
- Orr and Luke Stambaugh each finished with two assists, while Will Boccanfuso pulled in four rebounds.
- Caleb Barwin knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and went 3-for-3 from the foul line to total nine points.
- Zach Tucker played well in the final game of his freshman season, finishing with eight points, two boards, and an assist.
- Chris Anderson netted seven tallies in 16 minutes of work.
- Jordan Abdo made the most of his four minutes of playing time, burying a triple and adding a free throw in the closing moments.
- Jack Daly led the way for Middlebury, posting a triple-double with 13 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds.
 
Making History
The 2017-18 season saw LVC win its first outright conference championship since 1995 and earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time since 2005. Individually, Sam Light became just the third player in program history to score 2,000 points and finishes his career as the second-highest scorer in program history (2,097 points). Teammate Andy Orr wrapped up one of the best four-year careers in LVC history by moving into the top five on the all-time scoring list (1,946 points) and ranking third on the all-time rebounding list (910 rebounds). He is the only player in program history to score 1,900 points and collect 900 rebounds.

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