ANNVILLE, Pa. – Tyson Hofsass had a career-high 23 points to highlight four scorers in double figures for the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team in a huge 86-67 victory over visiting Misericordia University on Wednesday evening in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play at Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The Dutchmen (6-14, 4-5 MAC Freedom) got off to an excellent start scoring the first eight points of the game. Hofsass, who made his second career start and first of the season, got things going with a pull-up jumper in the paint. Ryan Harder scored on LVC's next trip down the floor before Hofsass put back a rebound to make it 6-0 after three offensive possessions forcing the Cougars (12-8, 6-3 MAC Freedom) to burn an early timeout. Kyle Tang made it 8-0 with a transition layup following a defensive rebound by Luis Garcia at the other end. Misericordia scored their first bucket of the game a little over three minutes into play with a three-pointer on the left wing by Kevin Lazdowsky.
 
The Cougars clawed their way to a 10-9 deficit with a pair of threes before Tang found Harder open at the top of the key for a three-pointer. Lazdowsky gave the Cougars their first lead of the game with back-to-back buckets in the paint and a free throw to make it 14-13 with a little over 14 minutes to go in the half. Evan Smith gave LVC back the lead with a pull-up jumper in the paint and then a transition three on the left wing to put LVC up by four. Misericordia used a 5-0 run to retake the lead. The teams traded scores until a three-pointer by the Cougars gave Misericordia a 25-22 advantage with 7:30 left.
 
LVC responded with an 8-0 run led by Tang with five points, including three at the line, and then a Hofsass three to go up by five. Misericordia responded with a 5-0 run to tie things up. The teams traded buckets before the Cougars used a pair of free throws and a transition bucket to take their biggest lead of the game at 42-38 with a little over a minute to play. Tang stopped the run with a free throw and then found Braden Bohannon open for a huge three-pointer with five seconds left to send the Dutchmen into the locker room with the game tied at 42.
 
Harder got the scoring going in the second half with a pull-up in the paint. The teams traded turnovers before Lazdowsky tied the game up. LVC came right down the floor and Harder knocked down another jumper in the paint. Hofsass then hit a three-pointer, Harder knocked down a pair of free throws, and Hofsass scored on a driving layup to put the Dutchmen up nine and force the Cougars to call a timeout with 15:46 on the clock. Misericordia got a steal and bucket to end the scoring run, but the Dutchmen went right back to increasing their lead as Tang had a bucket and hit the back end of two free throws, Bohannon knocked down another three, Harder converted a shot at the line, and then Bohannon knocked down both free throws to put LVC up 62-46 with a little under 12 minutes to play.
 
Misericordia hit a pair of shots at the line to end a nearly two-minute scoring drought for both teams. Karson Pavlik hit a three-pointer and then Hofsass knocked down a pair of free throws. The Cougars used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 69-55 with just over seven minutes to play as the Dutchmen called timeout to curb the momentum of the run. Hofsass hit a jumper in the paint out of the timeout before the teams traded scores. Smith put the Dutchmen back up by 19 with a three-pointer off an assist from Tang with a little under five minutes to play. Garcia got the Dutchmen lead up to 20 points with a pair of free throws to make it 81-61 before Hofsass scored on a layup and a three-pointer to give the Dutchmen a 22-point advantage at 86-64 with 30 seconds left. The Cougars knocked down a three at the other end to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• Hofsass finished with a career-high 23 points on 9-13 shooting including 3-6 from beyond the arch. He was 2-2 at the line.
• Harder was a couple rebounds shy of a double-double with 17 points and eight boards. The junior had 19 and eight against the Cougars in the first meeting a few weeks ago.
• Tang scored eight of his 14 points at the line. He dished out seven assists and added three steals and three rebounds to his stat line.
• Garcia was the fourth scorer in double figures and just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
• Smith and Bohannon had eight points each with both knocking down a pair of threes. Bohannon had six rebounds and three assists.
• Pavlik knocked down two three-pointers for six points.
• The Dutchmen made a season-high 11 three-pointers and scored a season-high 86 points.
• LVC dished out 15 assists on 28 made field goals and turned the ball over just 11 times.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will be on the road for their next two games starting with a trip to Doylestown on Saturday to face Delaware Valley University. Tip-off at James Work Gymnasium is set for 3 p.m. in the second matchup between the teams this season. The Dutchmen defeated the Aggies 76-72 at Sorrentino Gymnasium at the beginning of January.

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