WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's basketball team earned an important conference win on Wednesday evening with a 77-61 victory in McGrane Gymnasium at King's College. The Dutchmen had three scorers in double figures and led for all but 34 seconds.
 
The Monarchs (10-8, 2-5 MAC Freedom) won the opening tip and got the ball down low for the first bucket of the game. LVC (5-13, 3-4 MAC Freedom) got into their offense at the other end and Evin Timochenko found Evan Smith open for a three-pointer. The teams traded missed shots before King's retook the lead with a jumper with 17:40 on the clock. The Dutchmen responded with Smith finding Timochenko underneath for a layup and then Smith hitting a three in transition to put LVC up by four. Timochenko continued the run with a layup off a nice pass by Ryan Harder. The Monarchs were able to score underneath on a putback to cut the lead to 10-6 with just under 16 minutes to play.
 
Wil Laskowski knocked down a transition three off an assist from Kyle Tang before King's used a 7-0 run over a span of three possessions to tie the game up at 13. Tyson Hofsass put LVC back up by knocking down the front end of two shots at the line and then Braden Bohannon scored on a layup. The Monarchs got a bucket down low to bring it back to a one-point game before the Dutchmen went to work down low as Timochenko scored three layups on four possessions and then Bohannon knocked down a three for a 9-0 run. King's knocked down one of two shots at the line before the teams traded three-pointers.
 
The Monarchs used a pair of threes to cut the lead down to five at 30-25 with 4:30 left forcing the Dutchmen to use a timeout. Bohannon knocked down a jumper out of the timeout off an assist by Laskowski. Both teams missed jumpers before Tang grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a fastbreak score giving the Dutchmen a nine-point edge. The Dutchmen went into the locker room with a 36-27 halftime lead following a Timochenko jumper with 35 seconds left.
 
LVC and King's traded scores over the first few minutes of the second half with both teams scoring on six straight possessions ending with a Smith three-pointer to make it 44-34 in favor of the Dutchmen with a little over 16 minutes on the clock. Smith hit a pair of threes sandwiching a Monarch bucket to give the Dutchmen their largest lead of the game so far at 50-36 with just over 14 minutes left and forcing the Monarchs to call a timeout.
 
King's scored the next five points to bring the deficit back to single digits. Bohannon scored LVC's next seven points while Chris Patton scored five for King's as the Dutchmen took a 57-46 lead midway through the half. Kyle Tang sandwiched a Monarch three-pointer with a fastbreak layup following a steal and a jumper. King's cut the lead to seven with a 5-0 run before Timochenko scored on a big layup from Bohannon to make it a nine-point game. Timochenko was able to give the Dutchmen a 67-56 advantage with five minutes remaining as he put back an offensive rebound. The Monarchs got it back to single digits but LVC closed the game on a 10-3 run over the final minute and a half including going 8-9 at the free throw line.
 
Inside the Box

• Timochenko recorded his eighth double-double of the year with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Both were game highs. He was 12-17 from the floor and dished out three assists.
• Bohannon scored a career-high 20 points on 7-13 shooting including knocking down a trio of three-pointers. He grabbed five rebounds and added two assists.
• Smith was the third Dutchman in double figures with a season-high 17 points on five three-pointers and a perfect 2-2 at the line.
• Tang filled the stat sheet with six points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
• The Dutchmen shot 50 percent from the field making 28 of 56 shots and knocked down a season-high nine three-pointers.
• LVC held a 42-31 rebounding advantage in the game.
• The Dutchmen finished the first half of conference play with a 3-4 mark and sit fifth in the standings with Stevens, Arcadia, and Misericordia all 5-2 while DeSales is 7-0.

Up Next
The Dutchmen begin the second rotation on Saturday with a home game inside Sorrentino Gymnasium at 3 p.m. as Stevens Institute makes its first-ever trip to Annville. The Ducks escaped with a 70-65 win on their home court earlier this month in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

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