Lebanon Valley 91, Messiah 71
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, L. Garcia, Jones, Deihm
 
Messiah Starters
Reames, Light, Carter, Ramsey, Porter
 
How It Happened
GRANTHAM, Pa. – Lebanon Valley's Men's Basketball team outscored Messiah University 56-35 in the second half en route to a dominant 91-71 win over the Falcons on Friday evening in MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball action. The Flying Dutchmen improved to 2-0, while Messiah dropped to 0-2.
 
Trailing by one at 36-35 going into second-half action, LVC kept things close in the early going and Luis Garcia's layup at 14:50 evened the game at 50-50. L. Garcia's layup sparked what proved to be a game-winning run for the Dutchmen, as he followed it up with a pair of free throws, followed by Bryce Diehl's layup and Jaylen Reichner's trey that put the Dutchmen ahead 57-50. The visitor's onslaught continued when Zach Tucker and L. Garcia knocked down back-to-back triples, and Justin Baker and Collin Jones then made two consecutive jumpers to cap an incredible 17-0 run that spanned just over three minutes of game time.
 
LVC maintained its double-digit lead, and with 7:07 to go, Jeremy Deihm's layup gave the Dutchmen their biggest lead of the night at 77-55. LVC locked down on defense for the entire second half and held Messiah to just 34% shooting, while the Dutchmen shot a whopping 72% from the field in the second half in the 91-71 drubbing.
 
It was a back-and-forth opening half that saw the Falcons jump out to a quick 13-5 advantage off Cam Carter's 3-pointer at 15:10, but the Dutchmen clawed their way back and answered with an 11-3 spurt, capped by Diehl's layup at 9:20 that gave the visitors a 16-15 lead.
 
The teams continued to trade buckets but a Caleb Light triple at 4:50 put Messiah up 32-24. The Dutchmen, however, again had an answer and finished the first half on an 11-3 run, including Baker's jumper at the buzzer, as LVC trailed by just one at 36-35 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Zach Tucker knocked down two 3-pointers tonight to eclipse the 100 made-3-pointer mark.
 - Five Dutchmen were in double figures in points this evening.
 - Collin Jones led all scorers with 22 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He added five boards and a pair of steals.
 - Luis Garcia finished with 17 points, a game-high six assists, three rebounds, and three steals.
 - Tucker added 16 points, seven boards, and three helpers.
 - Bryce Diehl came off the bench and supplied 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
 - Jeremy Deihm netted 10 and hauled down six rebounds.
 - Messiah was led by EJ Porter who netted 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
 - Cam Carter (13) and Caleb Light (10) were also in double digits in points.
 - As was the case last evening, the Dutchmen dominated in points in the paint at 42-18.
 - LVC scored 22 points off 15 Messiah turnovers.
 - The Dutchmen got to the free throw line 36 times and made 26 shots, while the Falcons were 12-for-16 from the charity stripe.
 - LVC out-rebounded the Falcons 46-29.
 
Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC athletics.