ANNVILLE, Pa. – Collin Jones had a monster second half to lead the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team to a huge 75-71 victory over visiting Hood College on Saturday afternoon inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The Dutchmen (4-5, 2-1 MAC Commonwealth) defeated last year's conference champions behind another strong second half after the Blazers took a 38-31 halftime lead. Payton Lewis scored LVC's first eight points of the game giving the Dutchmen an 8-5 lead. Hood (5-5, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth) used a 9-0 run over a span of three minutes to take a 20-12 lead. They were able to get the lead up to 11 points with 3:51 to go before LVC used a 10-5 run to end the half.
 
The Blazers opened the second half with seven points over the first few minutes to take their largest lead of the game and force a timeout. Ryan Harder hit a jumper in the paint and then scored on a layup to cut the lead down to 10. Hood still held a 10-point advantage with 14 minutes to play before Jones took over with eight straight points including two three-point plays to bring the deficit down to two with 12 minutes on the clock. The Blazers responded with a scoring run of their own to build the lead back to 11 points. Jones and Jevon Griffin brought it back to two with three points by Jones and then two threes by Griffin. Evan Smith gave the Dutchmen their first lead of the second half with a big three from the corner with 2:20 left. The defense locked down on the Blazer shooting allowing just one made field goal the rest of the way and Smith hit four shots at the foul line to give LVC a huge conference victory.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Jones finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds recording a double-double in the second half alone scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 boards in the final 20 minutes.
• Lewis knocked down five threes including a couple from NBA range to finish with 19 points. He added eight rebounds and three assists to his stat line.
• Smith had a big game in his first career start scoring a career-high 16 points with five rebounds and three assists.
• Griffin had seven points while Luis Garcia had a team-high six assists.
• The Dutchmen pulled down a season-high 46 rebounds
• LVC defeated Hood for the first time since 2018 breaking a five-game winning streak for the Blazers. 

Up Next
The Dutchmen will be on the road next Saturday with a non-conference tilt at Gwynedd Mercy. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. against the Griffins.

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