ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's basketball team battled tough against visiting Misericordia University on Saturday afternoon in a 70-61 defeat at Sorrentino Gymnasium in the first home conference game of the year. Giovanni Sejuste provided a spark off the bench with a season-high 17 points.
 
Misericordia (10-3, 2-0 MAC Freedom) used its size to jump out to a 6-0 lead and held the Dutchmen (3-10, 1-1 MAC Freedom) without a point for the first five minutes of the game. Sejuste knocked down a three-pointer on the right wing off a pass from Kyle Tang to cut the deficit in half. The Cougars answered with a three-pointer and a pair of buckets to go up by 10. Sejuste added a layup off an inbound pass from Michael Main with a little over 13 minutes to play in the half. Neither team scored again until Sejuste hit a free throw with 11:11 on the clock. The Cougars ended their three-minute scoreless drought with a bucket in the paint before Karson Pavlik swished a three-pointer on the left side to cut the deficit to six.
 
The Cougars got the advantage back up to double digits with four foul shots. Sejuste made the front end of two shots at the line for his seventh point of the half. Misericordia got out in transition off a steal for a bucket, then Jason Penn and Tang knocked down jumpers. LVC got the deficit down to four after a three-pointer by Phil Unangst and a layup from Sejuste. The Cougars countered with a three-pointer and a layup to go back up nine. Penn was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and made all his shots at the line. Misericordia used a 6-2 run to push the lead back up to 10 with 2:31 on the clock. Penn hit a pair of free throws, and the Cougars scored on a transition layup to go into the half with a 36-26 lead.
 
The Dutchmen came out strong to begin the second half and did not allow the Cougars to score a point for the first two minutes, and held them without a made field goal for the first three and a half minutes. Pavlik and Tang scored in the paint to get the Dutchmen within six. MU knocked down four shots at the line and then a layup to make it 42-30. Tang hit a three-pointer on the right side, and then Main knocked down a pair of free throws. The Cougars knocked down a three-pointer and were able to keep the advantage at 10 points after another three with 13 minutes to go. Demarcus Bandy had a jumper in the paint, and Sejuste scored on a pair of driving layups over the next two minutes to keep the Dutchmen within eight.
 
The deficit was at 10 points with eight minutes to play when Penn knocked down a three-pointer on the left wing. The Cougars countered with a three-pointer and used a pair of three-pointers following a Luke Chilton bucket to go up by 14 at 65-51. Sejuste stopped the run with a three-pointer off a pass from Bandy. Misericordia continued to use the deep ball to push its advantage to 15 points with 2:45 left. The Dutchmen continued to battle as Sejuste hit a free throw, Tyler Kerlin knocked down a three-pointer near the corner, and Tang got out in transition after a defensive rebound for a layup to get the score to 70-61.
 
Inside the Box

• Sejuste was 6-for-11 from the floor and hit a pair of three-pointers while knocking down three shots at the line for his 17 points. The first-year also grabbed five rebounds in 24 minutes of action.
• Penn was also in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.
• Tang scored nine points, dished out three assists, and recorded three steals.
• Bandy finished with seven points and five rebounds while Pavlik scored five points.
• The Dutchmen blocked a season-high five shots, led by Bandy with two.

Up Next
LVC will head to DeSales University on Wednesday for an important matchup with the Bulldogs. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Center Valley.

Stay Connected
Be sure to follow @lvcathletics on Instagram, X, and Facebook for the most in-depth coverage of LVC Athletics.