DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Lebanon Valley men's basketball saw an impressive second half rally fall just short in a tough 71-67 defeat to Ohio Athletic Conference power Marietta College on Friday in the team's final game of the Florida Sunshine Shootout at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
 
Lebanon Valley came out unfazed against a Marietta program that advanced all the way to the Final Four a season ago and only three losses this season were against teams currently ranked in the top 11. Ryan Harder got the Dutchmen on the board with a jumper and then gave LVC a 4-1 advantage off an assist from Luis Garcia. Collin Jones made it 7-1 on a layup and foul shot with 16:22 to go in the half. Marietta responded with a 6-0 run to tie the game before Jones knocked down a three from the right side off a pass from Jevon Griffin. The Pioneers took their first lead of the game at 6:54 left in the half on a three-pointer to go up 23-22. Marietta managed to build the lead up 12 with strong outside shooting and took a 45-32 lead into the halftime break. Marietta made nine threes in the opening 20 minutes shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Pioneers led by as many as 16 in the second half and were up 69-55 with 7:19 to go before the Dutchmen began their comeback effort holding Marietta scoreless until the final seconds. Harder began the scoring for the Dutchmen knocking down three of four free throws. Kyle Tang drew a foul on a driving layup an made one of his two free throws. Luis Garcia scored the next five points on three free throws and a beautiful layup to cut the lead down to five. Harder took the lead down to three with a jumper in the paint with 2:22 left before Tang knocked down another free throw. The Dutchmen had two chances to take the lead but a pair of three pointers attempts were off the mark with the Pioneers grabbing the defensive rebound.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Jones had one of his best games of the year equaling his season-high of 25 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. The senior threw down a fastbreak dunk in the second half to fire up the team's comeback effort.
• Ryan Harder also was in double digits scoring with 11 points.
• Tang finished with nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
• Garcia and Evan Smith both had seven points. Garcia also had seven rebounds and four assists.
• The Dutchmen got to the line a season-high 31 times and made 20 free throws.

Up Next
LVC will return to conference play on Wednesday at Stevenson University. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Owings Mills.

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