ANNVILLE, Pa. – Tyler Kerlin had a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team in a hard-fought 82-67 defeat to visiting Albright College on Wednesday evening at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Dutchmen played the Lions really tough all night, but it was Albright's three-point shooting that was the biggest difference in the game as the Lions made 14 of their 31 attempts. LVC played strong defense as the Lions used quick passes to move the ball around the court to get players looks from beyond the arc. Both teams started with three-pointers over the first five possessions of the game. Reed Melvin and Karson Pavlik knocked down shots in the corner.
 
The Lions scored the next four points before Kyle Tang hit Tyler Kerlin at the foul line for a bucket. Albright answered with a layup before Phil Unangst scored a couple of buckets in the paint to even the score at 12. Tang gave the Dutchmen their first lead of the night as he made the front end of two free throws. Albright collected the rebound off the second and quickly got the ball up court and ended a nearly three-minute scoreless drought with a layup. The Lions used a pair of three-pointers during an 8-2 run to push the lead to 22-15 with 10 minutes on the clock.
 
Giovanni Sejuste and Melvin scored on back-to-back layups to get the deficit down to three. Kerlin and Melvin knocked down jumpers as the teams traded buckets over the next three minutes. Kerlin had a steal and bucket to get LVC within one and then Penn drove to the hoop after a long pass from Tang to score a fastbreak layup, giving LVC a 27-26 advantage with six minutes remaining in the half. A Unangst free throw made it 28-26 with five minutes left. Albright responded with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes to go up 39-28. Kerlin ended the run with a three-pointer on the right side. Neither team was able to score over the final minute of the half as Albright went into the break with an eight-point cushion.
 
The Lions scored the first three points of the second half and held LVC scoreless for the first two minutes. Melvin knocked down a jumper in the paint and converted a free throw for a three-point play. Tang cut the deficit down to six with a running jumper in the middle of the paint. Albright countered with a three-pointer to make the advantage nine points. Demarcus Bandy came up with a big steal and layup before Sejuste had a fastbreak layup to bring the lead back down to five with just under 15 to play. Albright scored the next five points, and LVC countered with a layup and two made free throws from Unangst to make it 52-46.
 
The teams traded scores, and after a Kerlin three-pointer with 10 minutes remaining, Albright still led by six at 59-53. The Lions knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to double their lead. Unangst hit a nice hook shot in the paint before a 7-0 run by Albright gave the Lions a 72-55 advantage with six minutes on the clock. The Lions answered a Kerlin jumper with a three-pointer and a made free throw to take their biggest lead of the game at 76-57.
 
LVC made a run over the final five minutes and was able to cut the deficit to 12 on a pair of free throws from Bandy, a Gannon Perlini three-pointer in the corner, and another fastbreak layup by Bandy. Albright hit a three-pointer to get the lead back to 15. Both teams scored three points each over the final minute of play to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• Kerlin scored in double figures for the second time this season with 14 points. His seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass, are a career high.
• Unangst scored a career-high 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and 3-6 at the line. The sophomore also grabbed five rebounds.
• Melvin continued the strong start to his career with 12 points. He has scored in double figures in five of LVC's six games.
• Bandy and Sejuste had six points apiece. Bandy added two rebounds, two blocks, and two steals to his stat line. Sejuste pulled down four rebounds.
• Perlini finished with a career-high five points in four minutes of action.
• The Dutchmen scored 21 points off 17 Albright turnovers. Offensively, LVC took care of the ball, committing a season-low 11 turnovers.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will look to rebound on Saturday with the team's final road non-conference game and final road game of 2025. LVC will head to Allentown to take on the Muhlenberg College Mules at 1 p.m. inside Memorial Hall.

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