Hood 92, Lebanon Valley 83
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, L. Garcia, Covey, Deihm
 
Hood Starters
Riley, M. Wang, E. Wang, Smalls, Evans
 
How It Happened
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Hood College pulled away from Lebanon Valley late in a high-octane 92-83 MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball game on Wednesday evening inside Sorrentino Gymnasium. The Flying Dutchmen dropped to 5-8, 0-4 MAC Commonwealth, while the Blazers jumped to 9-4, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth.
 
In the early going of the opening half, Hood's offense was clicking on all cylinders, particularly from beyond the arc, as the Blazers' first five buckets were all 3-pointers and the visitors jumped out to a quick 20-9 lead with 13:28 remaining in the first. Hood then netted six consecutive points to go up 26-9 with 12:14 to go after another Mason Wang triple, but the weathered the storm and hung around and cut the deficit to 12 off a layup and free throw by Jeremy Deihm.
 
From there, however, more hot shooting by the Blazers allowed them to pull ahead by 19 with 3:42 to go in the first at 46-27. The Dutchmen again answered with a 9-0 spurt, capped by Collin Jones' 3-pointer to make it a 46-38 game with 1:16 to go, and in the closing seconds of the half, after Kobe Butler hit a layup, but Jones against answered with a 3-pointer to make it a seven-point game at 48-41 at halftime.
 
LVC began the second half on fire and came to within two after Jones' layup made it 53-51 with 16:38 left. The Blazers' Tyler Evans quickly put his team on top by five with a 3-pointer, followed by Evan Wang's triple that made it 59-51 in favor of the visitors with 15:54 to go. AJ Catanzaro then knocked down a shot from beyond the arc, but once again, Hood had an answer as Evans hit another trey to put the Blazers up 62-54 with 15:09 left.
 
For the next few minutes of game action, the visitors maintained their lead until Justin Baker hit a free throw, followed by a layup and one from Zach Tucker that cut the deficit to four at 69-65 with 11:21 to go. After the Dutchmen cut it to just four, Hood responded with a crushing 10-0 run that made it a 14-point lead for the Blazers at 79-65 with 6:21 left. Late in the game, the Dutchmen showed life after Mason Green hit a triple to cut it back to single digits at 84-76, but it was too little, too late for LVC, as Hood's hot shooting led the visitors to the 92-83 victory.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Collin Jones poured in a career-high 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. The freshman added nine rebounds and a pair of assists in 34 minutes of action.
 - Justin Baker finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, as well as a team-best seven assists.
 - Zach Tucker netted 12 points and dished out six assists.
 - AJ Catanzaro scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
 - Hood was led by Mason Wang who scored 34 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including a 7-for-10 mark from 3-point land.
 - The Blazers' Michael Riley added 20 points.
 - Hood sank 17 3-pointers as a team.
 - The Dutchmen sank eight triples in the contest.
 - LVC shot 57.4% as a team, while Hood shot 51.8%.
 
Who's Next?
LVC continues MAC Commonwealth action this Saturday, Jan. 11, when the Dutchmen welcome Alvernia to Annville for a 3 p.m. game.
 
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