GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa. – Ryan Harder scored a season-high 16 points to lead all scorers as the Lebanon Valley College men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 70-61 decision at Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon.
 
LVC (4-6) jumped out to a 9-2 lead over the first five minutes of the game on buckets by four different Dutchmen. The Griffins (4-6) cut the lead to three points at 11-8 before Harder hit a three-pointer and the Collin Jones scored underneath the hoop to give the Dutchmen an eight-point cushion with 9:30 to go. GMU responded with a 9-2 run to cut the LVC lead down to one point. Harder knocked down a three off an assist by Jevon Griffin to bring the lead back up to four. The Griffins finished the half strong and took their first lead of the game at 24-23 with two minutes to go and then continued their run taking a 28-23 lead. Kyle Tang stopped the run with a layup with just under a minute left as the Griffins went into the half with a three-point advantage.
 
The Dutchmen started the second half with the first eight points to retake the lead at 33-28 and force the Griffins to call a timeout with 17:19 on the clock. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes until a 8-0 run gave Gwynedd Mercy a 46-44 lead with a little over 11 minutes left. GMU built a 52-46 advantage behind four free throws before Harder knocked down a pair to keep the Dutchmen within four at 52-48 with just under nine to play. The Griffins went on a 10-2 run over the next six minutes to build their largest lead of the game at 12 points. LVC fought back with a three-pointer by Evan Smith and two free throws by jones to cut the lead down to seven, but they were not able to cut the deficit any further the rest of the way.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Harder made three three-pointers and shot over 50-percent to finish with a game-high 16 points, two points shy of his career-high. He added five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
• Jones had another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. He now has four double-doubles on the season.
• Smith was the third Dutchmen in double digits with 11 points off the bench.
• Payton Lewis had seven points and three steals while Kyle Tang dished out a game-high six assists.
• The Dutchmen recorded 15 assists on their 22 made buckets and shot 41.5-percent from the field.

Up Next
LVC will head down to Daytona Beach where they will take on University of Mount Union and Marietta College in the Florida Sunshine Shootout. The Dutchmen will take on fifth-ranked Mount Union on December 28 at 5 p.m. inside the Ocean Center before facing Marietta on December 30.

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