Alvernia 87, Lebanon Valley 81
 
LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, L. Garcia, Deihm, Jones
 
Alvernia Starters
Mullan, Pierce, Taylor, Harman, Green
 
How It Happened
READING, Pa. – Lebanon Valley's Men's Basketball team suffered its first setback of the 2021 season after dropping an 87-81 contest at Alvernia University on Friday night in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth action. The Flying Dutchmen fell to 6-1, 5-1 MACC, while the Golden Wolves improved to 3-1, 3-1 MACC.
 
LVC won the most games to begin a season in program history since the 1998-99 squad began that campaign with 12 consecutive victories.
 
After putting up 50 in the first half against Alvernia last evening in Annville, the Dutchmen's offense struggled to get going in the first half tonight as the Golden Wolves opened up the game on a 14-3 run with 13:15 left. LVC climbed out of its mini funk and responded in a huge way with a 12-0 spurt that spanned nearly five minutes of action to even the contest at 14-14. Collin Jones' layup, followed by a free throw capped the impressive run for the Dutchmen, but hot shooting from Alvernia quickly put the home team back on top at 17-15 after Taylor's 3-pointer.
 
LVC kept things close from there, but found itself down by six with 3:02 left before Zach Tucker nailed a trey to make it a three-point Alvernia advantage at 28-25. The Dutchmen weren't able to tie things up or take a lead for the remainder of the half, and another Taylor 3-pointer at the buzzer put the Golden Wolves on top 35-29 at the half.
 
In the second half, the Dutchmen hung around, but it seemed like Alvernia always had a big answer. Tucker brought LVC to within two with 17:41 left at 38-36 after a pair of free throws, but once again Taylor hit a 3-pointer on Alvernia's ensuing possession. Then, Jones hit back-to-back layups and LVC came to within one at 41-40 with 15:42 to go, but this time Malik Green knocked down two consecutive treys to make it 47-40 with 14:28 left. Later, Jones' layup brought the Dutchmen back to within one at 48-47, however Avery Walker dropped a 3-pointer, followed by another from Taylor later to put the home team up 54-48 with 11:11 left.
 
With 8:08 left in the regulation, Tucker stepped up and drilled another 3-pointer to tie things up at 57-57, but Green answered with a trey of his own, followed later by a free throw to make it a four-point advantage for the Golden Wolves. Eventually, Alvernia extended its lead and led by as many as 13 down the stretch en route to the 87-81 win.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Collin Jones finished with a team-high 17 points and added six boards.
 - Zach Tucker netted 16 and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to go along with three boards.
 - Justin Baker added 15 points, five rebounds, and three helpers.
 - Luis Garcia went for 12 points and a team-best five assists.
 - Jeremy Deihm added 10 points and five rebounds.
 - Keon Taylor shot lights out from beyond the arc tonight for the Golden Wolves and was 6-for-6 from 3-point land en route to 26 points.
 - Alvernia's Malik Green netted a game-high 27 points, including four treys.
 - As a team, the Golden Wolves went 14-for-27 from beyond the arc.
 - The Golden Wolves shot 45.6% from the floor and LVC shot 44.3%.
 - The Dutchmen shot 88.9% from the charity stripe.
 - Once again, LVC dominated in points in the paint at 46-18.
 
Who's Next?
LVC has a quicker turnaround than usual going into next week. The Dutchmen are set to host Eastern University in a make-up game on Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium before heading to Owings Mills, Md. On Thursday, March 11 for a battle with Stevenson.
 
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