ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Men's Basketball team had three scorers in double figures to defeat visiting Elizabethtown College 77-64 on Tuesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
Ryan Harder gave the Dutchmen (5-0) the lead on the first possession with a pull up jumper. Elizabethtown (3-3) answered at the other end of the court as the teams traded baskets over the first two minutes. The Blue Jays took their first lead of the game with 16:30 left in the half on a jumper to go up 8-7. Harder answered right back as Evin Timochenko found him open for a three. Elizabethtown retook the lead with a 4-1 run before Jason Penn knocked down a three to make it 14-12 in favor of the Dutchmen. The Blue Jays scored the next four points and then Penn scored on a driving layup to even the game at 16 with 11:28 on the clock.
 
Neither team was able to score again until 8:15 remaining in the half as Harder knocked down a jumper in the paint. Kyle Tang found Timochenko open with a nice pass from the baseline to give LVC a 23-18 advantage with just under six to play. A three-pointer by Etown cut it to two before Wil Laskowski and Penn scored to force a timeout. The run continued out of the timeout for the Dutchmen as Laskowski scored on a driving layup and then found Timochenko down low to increase the lead to 31-21. Timochenko gave LVC the largest lead of the half with a tip in before Elizabethtown closed with the last four points of the half to make it 33-25.
 
The teams went back and forth the first couple minutes of the second half trading scores. Evan Smith knocked down a three to put LVC up by nine before the Blue Jays used a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead down to three. Penn stopped the run with a three-pointer and a couple of possessions later he hit a pair of free throws to give the Dutchmen a 45-37 lead with 15 minutes to go. The Blue Jays were able to cut the advantage down to five when Harder and Laskowski hit jumpers in the paint on back-to-back trips down the court. Karson Pavlik put the lead back to double digits with a layup to make it 54-44 with a little under 12 to play.
 
Penn hit a jumper and then Timochenko put back another offensive rebound to push the advantage to 14. Elizabethtown was able to cut the lead down to eight with a 10-4 run. Timochenko had another putback on an offensive board and then Harder knocked down a three to make it 69-56 with 3:43 left. Etown responded with a pair of buckets before Tang finished the game at the line making all six of his free throw attempts in the final 90 seconds.
 
Inside the Box

• The Dutchmen are 5-0 for first time since the abbreviated 2021 season. The previous best start to a season was in 1998-99 when LVC started 12-0.
• Timochenko led the way with a 20-20 game of 20 points and 20 rebounds. The senior had eight offensive rebounds, shot over 50 percent from the floor, and dished out four assists.
• Harder shot 70 percent from the field and finished with 19 points and six rebounds
• Penn was nearly perfect from the field as he shot 6-7 on field goals including 3-3 from deep and 2-2 at the line for 17 points.
• Laskowski had a season-high eight points and three rebounds.
• Tang scored seven points and dished out three assists.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will be off for Thanksgiving and return to action next Wednesday with a trip to Reading where they will square off with Albright College at 7 p.m.

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