ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley first-year Demarcus Bandy scored a season-high 15 points to lead the Dutchmen men's basketball team in a hard-fought 64-54 defeat to visiting Cairn University on Wednesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium in the squad's first home game of the season.
 
The Highlanders (4-1) scored the first points of the game with a jumper in the paint on their first offensive possession. Kyle Tang found Reed Melvin down low for a layup to even the score for the Dutchmen (1-2). Tang gave the Dutchmen the lead as he knocked down the front end of two free throws to make it 3-2. Neither team was able to score over the next two minutes until Cairn knocked down a jumper to retake the lead. They held that lead going into the first media timeout of the half. The squads traded missed shots out of the timeout, and then Giovanni Sejuste found Michael Main open for a three. Cairn scored at the other end on a driving layup. Bandy was fouled going to the rim and knocked down his first shot at the line. The Highlanders retook the lead with a three-pointer in the corner before Main put back a miss by Bandy at the other end to even the score at nine going into the second media timeout.
 
The teams traded foul shots with Bandy getting a steal and knocking down both of his shots at the line after being fouled on the fastbreak attempt. The Dutchmen took the lead midway through the half as Tang found Phil Unangst cutting to the rim for two points. Karson Pavlik knocked down a free throw, and then Sejuste scored on a putback to push LVC's advantage to 16-11 with eight minutes on the clock. Cairn responded with back-to-back three-pointers. Tyler Kerlin answered with a corner three-pointer off an assist from Tang to give the Dutchmen a 19-17 advantage heading into the second-to-last media timeout of the half. Both teams locked down on defense coming out of the short break, and neither team scored until Cairn knocked down a three with just under four to play in the half. Unangst was fouled leading to the final media timeout of the half, and then the sophomore hit both of his free throws. The teams traded buckets in the paint as Tang found Unangst open underneath for the second time. The Highlanders finished the half with a layup and a jumper in the paint right before time expired to take a 26-23 lead.
 
Cairn used a pair of threes and two free throws to open the second half on an 8-0 run over the first three minutes. The Dutchmen held the Highlanders scoreless for the next three minutes and were able to cut the deficit down to seven on a pair of Melvin foul shots and a jumper by Bandy. The visitors paused the run with a layup. Main dished out a pair of assists on LVC's next two possessions, first finding Sejuste cutting to the basket, and then hitting Bandy on the wing for a three-pointer to cut the lead to four at 36-32. The Highlanders answered with a three-pointer, and Bandy countered with another three, this time off an assist from Jason Penn. The score remained 39-35 heading into the second media timeout of the half.
 
The Highlanders scored a pair of layups out of the timeout, and the Dutchmen responded right back as Bandy and Tang knocked down jumpers to keep the deficit at four midways through the half. The Dutchmen got the deficit down to three as Tang sent a pass down low to Melvin for a layup. Cairn hit a three-pointer to double the lead before Melvin scored on another layup to make it a four-point game at the third media timeout. Cairn got to the line and made both shots out of the timeout. They increased the lead to nine a couple of possessions later with a three-pointer. Tang stopped the run with a driving layup, and then Sejuste made the front end of two free throws to get the deficit back to six points. Cairn countered with back-to-back three-pointers to take their largest lead at 12 points heading into the final media timeout of the game. The Dutchmen went on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 60-52 with a little under two minutes to play. Bandy, Penn, and Sejuste all got to the line and knocked down both of their free throws for LVC's points during the run. Penn then knocked down a pull-up jumper at the free throw line to get the Dutchmen within six at 60-54 with a little over a minute left. Cairn scored four points over the final minute and held the Dutchmen scoreless to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• Bandy led the Dutchmen in scoring with a season-high 15 points. The first-year made a pair of three-pointers and knocked down five of his six foul shots. He also grabbed three rebounds and had two steals.
• Melvin scored eight points while Sejuste finished with seven.
• Unangst had a strong game with a career-high six points and a career-high seven rebounds.
• Tang had five points, six assists, and two rebounds. Main also scored five points and dished out two assists.
• Penn grabbed six rebounds and scored four points.
• The Dutchmen received a lot of production off the bench with 33 points and 17 rebounds.
• LVC grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and converted them into eight second-chance points.
• There were 12 lead changes in the game, and the score was tied five times.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will be back in action on Friday evening with a trip north to Williamsport, where Lebanon Valley will take on Penn College. Tip-off against the Wildcats is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Bardo Gymnasium.

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