Haverford 77, Lebanon Valley 72
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Reichner, Covey, Abdo, Deihm
 
Haverford Starters
Hartman, Turkson, Cork, Lang, Wujciak
 
How It Happened
HAVERFORD, Pa. – Lebanon Valley's second-half comeback bid fell short in a 77-72 loss at Haverford College in each team's 2019-20 season opener on Friday night in non-conference men's basketball action. The Flying Dutchmen slipped to 0-1, while the Fords went to 1-0.
 
For much of the game, Haverford led, but was unable to ever pull away. This was evident all the way into the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. With 4:28 remaining in the game, Jeremy Deihm knocked down a pair of free throws, to cut the Fords' lead to eight at 68-60. Later, with 3:23 to go, Collin Jones hit a fastbreak-layup and cut the deficit to six. Then, with 2:01 to go, Justin Baker added to his career-night with back-to-back makes from the charity stripe, bringing the Dutchmen to within four at 70-66. Then, after a free throw from Haverford's Jesse Turkson, followed by a layup after a steal, the home team went back up by seven at 73-66 with 1:09 left. Baker then hit two free throws with 59 seconds left, making it a five-point game at 73-68, but down the stretch, Haverford hit just enough free throws to keep it a two-possession game, and the clock ran out on the Dutchmen, nixing any sort of comeback.
 
Right out of the gate, the home team opened things up on an 8-0 run, forcing LVC to burn an early timeout. The Dutchmen stopped the bleeding and scored the game's next five points, but the Fords' offense came back and eventually the home team went ahead by 10 at 17-7 with 9:39 left in the opening half.
 
A quick 8-0 run from LVC that lasted nearly three minutes was capped by Deihm's jumper and the visiting Dutchmen found themselves down by just two at 17-15 with 7:09 to go. LVC was never able to grab the lead, however, as the Fords kept pulling away whenever the Dutchmen got close. In the closing minutes of the first, the Fords went ahead by as many as 10, but Deihm connected on a layup with just over a minute left, followed by Luis Garcia's jumper with 33 ticks on the clock, and LVC was down by just six at halftime at 34-28.
 
Quickly, Haverford went back up by double digits early in the second thanks to a 6-0 run. The home team continued to lead by a decent margin, but LVC never let Haverford pull away and nearly completed the comeback.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Justin Baker poured in a career-high 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He went 9-for-13 from the charity stripe, hauled in seven boards, and added four steals and a pair of assists.
 - Jeremy Deihm went for 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while adding five rebounds.
 - Luis Garcia was impressive for LVC in his collegiate debut, as the freshman scored 11 points and had a team-best eight steals.
 - Haverford's Joe Hartman led his team with 13 points, while Jesse Turkson chipped in 10.
 - Three bench players netted nine points apiece for the Fords.
 - LVC shot 45.5-percent from the field and Haverford shot 43.3-percent.
 - Haverford led in points off turnovers at 23-20.
 - The Fords also held the edge in bench points at 38-27.
 - The Dutchmen were the leaders in points in the paint at 40-38.
 
Who's Next?
LVC returns to action next weekend when the Dutchmen host three teams in its annual Rinso Marquette Tournament. Mt. Aloysius will take on FDU-Florham on Friday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m., before the Dutchmen battle Penn State Schuylkill at 8 p.m. The consolation and championship game are set for Saturday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
 
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