ANNVILLE, Pa. – Jason Penn scored a game-high 29 points to lead a second half rally as the Lebanon Valley Men's Basketball team stayed undefeated with a thrilling 79-74 double overtime victory over Penn College on Wednesday evening in the team's home opener inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
The Dutchmen (4-0) scored the first points of the game as Kyle Tang grabbed an offensive rebound and then hit a pull up jumper off an assist by Evin Timochenko. The duo teamed up again on LVC's next possession, this time Tang setting up Timochenko for a bucket in the paint to give the Dutchmen a 4-1 lead. The Wildcats made their first field goal of the game with 17:31 on the clock to cut the lead to one. Ryan Harder grabbed his own miss and put it back off the glass for his first points of the game before Tang hit a pair of free throws giving LVC an 8-3 lead after five minutes of action.
 
Penn College went on a 7-4 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead down to two. Tang found Harder down low for a layup before the Wildcats used a pair of steals and fastbreak layups to tie the game at 14. Evan Smith knocked down a three, but Penn College responded with three points of their own to tie things back up at 17 with eight minutes remaining in the half. The Wildcats took the lead with baskets on two consecutive possessions. They continued the run and went up by eight following three made free throws with 3:11 left. Tang knocked down a jumper and then Penn hit a three to get the advantage down to three at 30-27. The Wildcats responded with a three at the other end of the court and then Penn made it a four-point game at the half with a jumper in the paint.
 
Smith cut the lead to two with a three-pointer a couple minutes into the second half. Penn College used a layup and three-pointer to get the advantage back up to seven. A pair of threes increased the lead to 13 with 15:34 on the clock forcing the Dutchmen to call a timeout. Harder scored LVC's next three points as the Wildcats had a pair of layups to make it 51-37. Tang knocked down a three but then Penn College scored the next six points to build the biggest lead of the game at 57-40 with just under 12 minutes to go.
 
Timochenko began the comeback effort with a putback off a missed shot. Penn then hit a pair of threes to get it back to single digits at 57-48 with a little under 10 to play. The Wildcats stopped the run with a three. Penn responded at the other end with his third three in a row. Neither team was able to score until just over four minutes to play when Penn was fouled on a fastbreak attempt and hit both free throws. The lead was still six with 2:36 on the clock after a Timochenko bucket. LVC got a stop and then Timochenko hit both free throws after being fouled. The Dutchmen got a turnover and Harder cut it to two at 62-60 with a putback of his own miss jumper. Penn came up with a big defensive rebound at the other end and drew a foul to go to the line. He calmly sank both free throws to tie the game with 36 seconds left. Neither team was able to score on their final offensive possessions and the game headed to overtime.
 
The Wildcats struck first in the first extra session with a pair of free throws. They extended the lead to four with 3:17 on the clock before Harder hit a pull up jumper from the free throw line. The score stayed 67-65 in favor of the Wildcats until the final seconds. Penn College had the ball with 43 seconds left and Timochenko came up with a big steal with 20 seconds to go. The Dutchmen got the ball up court and called a timeout with 12 seconds left. Harder hit a driving layup to tie the game with six seconds to go. A last second shot by Penn College was off the mark and the game.
 
Timochenko won the jump to begin the second overtime and was fouled to go to the line. He made one of two shots. The Wildcats took a two-point lead with a three, but Penn immediately tied it up at 70 with a quick layup. The first-year gave the Dutchmen the lead with 2:36 left as he drained a three from the left wing. Penn then stole the ball and made it a five-point game with a fastbreak layup. The Wildcats got back within one with 43 second left before Penn iced the game with a three-pointer with 21 seconds to go. LVC ended the game at the line as Smith made one of two free throws to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• Penn was 9-13 from the field including 6-7 from beyond the arc and 5-6 at the line for his 29 points. The guard had 24 points in the second half and overtime. He also grabbed five rebounds.
• Harder had a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds. 12 of his rebounds came on the defensive glass. The senior also dished out five assists.
• Tang had a strong night with 12 points, nine rebounds, five steals, and five assists.
• Timochenko finished with 12 rebounds, nine points, and six assists.
• Smith hit a pair of threes and had seven points.
• The Dutchmen came back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to win in overtime for the second time this year.
• LVC had a season-high 51 rebounds and five blocks.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will be off until next Tuesday when they host local rival Elizabethtown College inside Sorrentino Gymnasium for a 5 p.m. tip-off.

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