ANNVILLE, Pa. – Collin Jones had 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to lead a trio of Dutchmen in double figures as the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 69-60 decision to regionally-ranked Widener University on Wednesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The Dutchmen (6-16, 4-9 MAC Commonwealth) played the Pride (15-7, 9-4 MAC Commonwealth) tough all game keeping the game incredibly close. LVC led for much of the game before a late run by Widener gave the Pride the victory. Widener got off to a strong start taking a 5-1 lead in the first couple minutes. Back-to-back layups from Jones and Redding tied the game up and two possessions later Redding gave the Dutchmen the lead with a three-pointer. Evan Smith then knocked down a three to make it 11-7 in favor of the home team. The lead increased to seven with 13:14 left when Kyle Tang found Redding open for a three. The Pride were able to cut the deficit down to three before Redding hit another three to make it 19-13 with 11 minutes on the clock. A free throw by Jones with five minutes left gave the Dutchmen their largest lead of the half at 24-16. Widener cut the advantage down to three and eventually tied the game up at 30 with 32 seconds left. Redding gave LVC the halftime lead with his fourth three of the half with six seconds remaining.
 
The teams battled back-and-forth in the second half trading leads for the first five minutes. The Dutchmen used a 9-0 run ending with a three-pointer by Smith to take a 50-42 lead with 13:38 left. Widener cut it down to five before buckets by Luis Garcia and Tang gave LVC their largest lead of the game at 54-45 with 8:42 remaining, The Pride responded with a 15-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 60-54 lead. Jones ended the run with a jumper in the paint to cut it to four. However, that was as close as the Dutchmen would get as the Pride closed out the game at the free throw line.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Jones recorded his 12th double-double of the season while pulling down 15 defensive rebounds. He was 5-8 from the floor and 8-12 at the line for 18 points.
• Redding had another strong game with 16 points with four three-pointers. He has now scored in double figures seven times this season.
• Smith finished with 12 points and eight rebounds knocking down a trio of threes.
• Garcia added nine points and four assists.
• LVC turned the ball over a season-low eight times.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will face another regionally ranked opponent on Saturday with a trip to Reading to take on conference-leading Alvernia University at 3 p.m.

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