Lebanon Valley 74, Stevenson 60
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, Covey, Jones, Deihm
 
Stevenson Starters
Johnson, Joseph, Hughes, Wooldridge, Terrell
 
How It Happened
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley kept its MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournament Playoff hopes alive with a crucial 74-60 victory over Stevenson University on Saturday afternoon. The Flying Dutchmen improved to 11-12, 6-8 MACC, while the Mustangs dropped to 6-17, 3-11 MACC.
 
LVC hopped out to a quick 10-4 advantage after Collin Jones' fastbreak 3-pointer put the Dutchmen up 10-4 with 15:28 remaining in the opening half. Stevenson eventually cut LVC's head to three at 16-13 with 11:56 to go thanks to a 12-3 spurt. Later, the Mustangs' Norman Hughes dropped a trey at 10:45, bringing his team to within two at 20-18, but Jones continued his huge first half and hit a layup to put LVC back up by four at 22-14 at 10:24.
 
After Stevenson came to within one at 26-25 with 6:13 left in the first, Jones hit three consecutive layups for the home team and made it a seven-point game at 32-25 with 4:17 to go. Hot shooting from beyond the arc kept the Mustangs within striking distance in the ladder stages of the first, as Cornelius Bobo drilled a triple with 1:46 left to make it a 34-31 lead for the Dutchmen, but four straight points by Jeremy Deihm made it a seven-point advantage for LVC at 38-31 with less than a minute to go. The Mustangs' Hughes made a layup with five seconds to go, but the Dutchmen still led by five at 38-33 at halftime.
 
Stevenson kept things close early in the second half, as Cam Harris nailed a 3-pointer at 15:16 to bring his team to within three at 48-45, but LVC responded with a significant 12-1 spurt that spanned just under four minutes, giving the home squad a 14-point lead at 60-46. That run proved to be crucial for the Dutchmen, as the Mustangs never got any closer and LVC eventually cruised to a 74-60 win to sweep the season series against Stevenson.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Collin Jones ended with a game-high 24 points, including 18 in the first half, on 10-of-14 shooting. The freshman added 14 rebounds for another double-double, and even had four steals.
 - Jeremy Deihm scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting and had seven boards.
 - Joe Wright provided 13 points off the bench in 18 minutes of action, going 4-for-4 from the floor.
 - Zach Tucker chipped in eight points, five rebounds, and five assists for the Dutchmen.
 - Hughes paced the Mustangs with 12 points, while Mark Terrell added 10 points.
 - LVC outshot Stevenson at 49.2% to 40.4%.
 - The Dutchmen held the edge in points off turnovers (12-10), bench points (21-19), and points in the paint (40-26).
 
Playoff Picture
LVC (6-8) remains a game and a half out of the fifth and final MAC Commonwealth Tournament spot. Alvernia currently holds the fifth spot at 8-7, while Hood is 7-7.
 
Who's Next?
LVC must win its final two games of the season in order to have a chance for that fifth spot. The Dutchmen return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 18, when LVC heads to Grantham to battle Messiah at 6 p.m. before returning home on Saturday for the Dutchmen's home regular-season finale vs. Arcadia at 4 p.m. That game will also serve as Hot Dog Frank Day and LVC's Make-A-Wish Game.
 
Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC athletics.