CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Evin Timochenko scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Lebanon Valley Men's Basketball was dealt a tough 69-57 defeat at DeSales University on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bulldogs (13-10, 7-5 MAC Freedom) scored the first four points of the game and never trailed against the Dutchmen (11-12, 5-7 MAC Freedom). Ryan Harder got the Dutchmen on the board with a jumper a little over two minutes into the first half. DeSales responded with scoring the next six points to go up 10-2. Timochenko stopped the run with a bucket underneath off a pass by Harder. LVC cut the lead down to four on a pair of free throws by Timochenko. The Bulldogs answered with a pair of layups to go back up by eight. DeSales was able to extend the advantage to 15 points with an 11-4 run that took up five minutes of clock.

Timochenko scored on a jumper in the paint to get LVC within 13 at 25-12. The Bulldogs scored the next 10 points over a two-minute stretch with a pair of three pointers to extend the advantage to 35-12 with five minutes to go in the half. DSU knocked down a three to get the lead to 25 points before a Jason Penn bucket in the final minute of the half cut the deficit to 40-17 at the half.

The Dutchmen had a strong second half outscoring the Bulldogs 40-29 over the final 20 minutes. Harder started the scoring in the half with a jumper. Kyle Tang knocked down the backend of two shots at the line and then Harder hit two free throws to get the lead down to 42-22 after the first four minutes. Tang found Timochenko down low for two points on LVC's next offensive possession to get the hosts to call a timeout. The Dutchmen came out of the break and held the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for two minutes. Offensively, Evan Smith hit a three and then Timochenko scored a bucket down low to get deficit down to 13 at 42-29. A free throw and layup by the hosts stopped the run before Laskowski scored on a layup.

The teams traded made free throws until DeSales knocked down a three with just under eight minute to play that gave them a 52-35 lead. Three Harder free throw and then a traditional three-point play by Timochenko cut into the lead. DeSales led by 12 when a three with five minutes left gave them a 58-43 advantage. The Dutchmen responded with a pair of Penn free throws, and then layups from Timochenko and Braden Bohannon to get the deficit to single digits at nine with three minutes left. A minute late, Penn scored on a driving layup to get the advantage down to 62-54. The Bulldogs scored and then made a couple of free throws to go up by 12 with under a minute left. Harder had a traditions three-point play before DeSales closed out the game at the line.

Inside the Box

• Timochenko was 8-16 from the field and 6-8 at the line for his 22 points. The senior grabbed nine rebounds including three on the offensive glass.
• Harder went 8-9 at the line and finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists.
• Penn added eight points while Smith had five.
• Tang pulled down six rebounds and dished out three assists.
• The Dutchmen scored 26 points in the paint and had 11 points off 10 DSU turnovers. LVC committed a season-low seven turnovers and assisted on 13 of the 17 made field goals.

Up Next
LVC will head to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday where they will face King's College at 7 p.m. in the final road game of the year. The Dutchmen are tied with the Monarchs in the conference standings at 5-7, a game back of Misericordia and Delaware Valley for the fourth and final postseason spot with two games left.

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