<strong>ANNVILLE, Pa. –</strong> The Lebanon Valley men's basketball team honored the program's three seniors prior to taking on 17th-ranked DeSales University on Saturday afternoon during Hot Dog Frank Day at Sorrentino Gymnasium. The Bulldogs used a strong ending to the first half to come away with a 69-50 victory.<br />  <br /> Prior to the game, the Dutchmen honored the team's three seniors, Malachi Williams, Jevon Griffin, and Luis Garcia. The Dutchmen and Bulldogs traded defensive stops over the first minute of the game before Ryan Harder knocked down a mid-range jumper to give LVC the lead. DeSales evened things up at the other end of the floor. Evin Timochenko found a streaking Kyle Tang for an easy layup and then Harder hit a pull up jumper in the paint to put the Dutchmen up by four. The Bulldogs responded with a three-pointer to cut it down to one.<br />  <br /> The game remained a defensive battle as Tyson Hofsass knocked down a jumper in the paint to give LVC an 8-5 lead with 14:30 left in the half. The Bulldogs knocked down a pair of shots at the line before Timochenko scored on a mid-range jumper. Tang gave the Dutchmen their largest lead of the game on back-to-back driving layups to put LVC up 14-9 with 12 minutes to go. DeSales countered with a three-pointer and then a steal and bucket to tie things up. Karson Pavlik scored in the paint before a three-pointer by the Bulldogs gave DSU their first lead of the game at 17-16. A made three-pointer on their next trip down the court forced the Dutchmen to call timeout down by four with just under 10 minutes to go in the half.  The Bulldogs outscored the Dutchmen 7-1 over the next three minutes to take a 10-point lead. LVC got it down to six on a Garcia bucket and then a Harder jumper with four minutes left. DeSales closed the half on a 13-0 run over those last four minutes to take a 40-21 lead into the locker room.<br />  <br /> The run continued into the second half as DeSales scored on the first possession. LVC responded on the other end of the court as Timochenko found Hofsass open for a three. Timochenko followed up the assist with an offensive putback to cut the lead to 16 points. The Bulldogs countered with a three-pointer and a layup before Harder knocked down a pair of free throws with 15 minutes left to bring the score to 47-28. Evan Smith scored on a running jumper along the baseline before DSU used a 11-1 run to take a 58-31 lead with 10:30 on the clock.<br />  <br /> Smith knocked down a three coming out of a timeout and then Tang scored on a driving layup to cut the DSU advantage down to 60-36. The Bulldogs built their biggest lead of the game with a 5-0 run to go up by 29 with seven minutes left. LVC fought back valiantly as Garcia scored the next four points before Gannon Perlini hit a jumper to cut the lead to 23 with a little under three minutes left. Perlini hit a three and the Dutchmen closed the game on a 6-0 run to set the final score.<br />  <br /> <strong>Inside the Box</strong> <ul> <li>11 Dutchmen scored at least one point in the game.</li> <li>Harder, Tang, and Garcia had eight points each. Harder led the team with six rebounds while Garcia pulled down four rebounds.</li> <li>LVC played DeSales even over the course of the second half with both teams scoring 29 points.</li> <li>Hofsass, Smith, and Perlini had five points each while Timochenko poured in four with five rebounds and two assists.</li> </ul> <strong>Up Next</strong><br /> The Dutchmen will play their final home game of the year on Tuesday when they welcome King's College to Sorrentino Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. tip. LVC sits in fifth place in the MAC Freedom standings, two games back of Misericordia University in fourth with two game remaining.<br /> <br /> <strong>Stay Connected</strong><br /> Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on <a href="http://www.instagram.com/lvcathletics"><strong>Instagram</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lvcathletics"><strong>X</strong></a>, and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lvcathletics"><strong>Facebook</strong></a> for the most in-depth coverage of LVC Athletics.