HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Lebanon Valley men's basketball team outscored host Stevens Institute of Technology 41-31 in the second half of a hard-fought 71-70 defeat to the Ducks on Wednesday evening at Canavan Area in Hoboken, N.J.
 
The Dutchmen (5-13, 3-4 MAC Freedom) battled all night against the Ducks (11-7, 5-2 MAC Freedom) and had a chance to take the lead in the final minute of the game as Stevens held on for a one-point victory in the final game of the first half of conference play.
 
Phil Unangst put the Dutchmen up early as he knocked down a three-pointer on the right side off an assist by Kyle Tang. Stevens countered with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 9-3 advantage. Neither team was able to score over the next three possessions until Demarcus Bandy tipped in his own missed layup with 15:33 on the clock. Tang grabbed a defensive rebound at the other end, and Jason Penn found Giovanni Sejuste under the rim for a layup to cut the deficit to two. The Ducks ended their scoreless drought with a bucket, and after making a free throw, they knocked down a three-pointer in transition to push the lead up to eight at 15-7.
 
LVC came right back as Sejuste scored a couple of buckets in the paint and added a free throw. The Ducks made a layup before Tang hit Tyler Kerlin for a deep three-pointer on the left side. SIT scored a layup out of the media timeout, and Sejuste countered with a pair of free throws to make it 19-17 in favor of the hosts. Stevens used a pair of threes sandwiched around a Reed Melvin floater in the paint to take a 25-19 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.
 
The Ducks added another three-pointer 90 seconds later, and LVC answered right back as Melvin knocked down a three-pointer just to the left of the top of the key. Neither team scored over the next minute as Melvin just missed a three-pointer from nearly the same spot on LVC's next possession. The Ducks made a bucket down low, and Bandy answered with a corner three-pointer off a pass from Unangst.
 
Stevens scored the next two baskets to take a 34-25 advantage with just under five to play in the half. Tang cut it to seven with a layup before back-to-back layups by Stevens pushed the lead to double digits. Melvin grabbed a defensive rebound and then hit a layup at the other end off a feed from Sejuste with just under two to play. Neither team was able to make a field goal over the final 1:50, and Stevens just made a pair of free throws to take a 40-29 lead into the break. LVC had a chance to score at the buzzer, but a right-wing three-pointer from Melvin was off the mark.
 
The first 90 seconds of the second half were a defensive battle as neither team was able to score. Penn made the first field goal of the half with a jumper near the top of the key. The Ducks made a layup before LVC used a 5-0 run by Sejuste to get the deficit down to five. The first-year hit a jumper in the paint and then made a traditional three-point play. Stevens scored down low before Penn knocked down a deep three-pointer along the left side to cut the advantage down to five at 44-39 with 16 minutes to play.
 
The strong start to the half continued for the Dutchmen after Stevens made a free throw, as Sejuste hit a turnaround jumper at the elbow and Unangst hit his second three-pointer of the game. LVC took the lead after a stop and a Sejuste layup with 14 minutes on the clock. The teams traded buckets in the paint as Melvin and Tyler Kerlin scored for the Dutchmen to make it 50-49. The Ducks hit their first three-pointer of the second half to take the lead back before Karson Pavlik tied the score with a mid-range jumper. Stevens answered right back with a layup to go up 54-52.
 
Sejuste hit a turnaround jumper just inside the elbow and then made a layup after a Melvin steal to give LVC the lead. Kerlin pushed the lead to five with a three-pointer off a pass from Tang, forcing the Ducks to call a timeout with 8:41 to play. Neither team was able to score on the next three possessions to take the game into a media timeout. The Ducks came out of the media timeout and scored back-to-back times down the floor with a layup and a three-pointer to even the score at 59. Sejuste was fouled out of a LVC timeout and made both his shots at the line.
 
The Ducks used a 6-0 run over the next three minutes to retake the lead at 64-61. Sejuste made a pair of shots at the line after grabbing an offensive rebound. The Ducks pushed the lead back to four with a layup, and Sejuste answered once again with a traditional three-point play to make it a one-point game with under two minutes on the clock. Stevens drew a foul and made one of the two free throws. LVC missed a shot, but Tang came up with a big steal to get the ball back in the final minute.
 
Unangst made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 68 with 57 seconds left. The Ducks went to the line at the other end and only made one of two shots as Sejuste grabbed the defensive rebound on the second attempt. The guard backed down a SIT defender but had his shot blocked with 23 seconds left. The Dutchmen were forced to foul, and Stevens made both shots at the line. LVC brought the ball up court and called a timeout with 14.3 seconds on the clock to set up one final play.  The Dutchmen got the ball into the hands of Sejuste, and he made a contested layup as time expired.
 
Inside the Box

• Sejuste had another incredible game with a season-high 31 points. The first-year scored 22 points in the second half. He was 11-for-21 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. The guard pulled down five rebounds, blocked two shots, and had one assist.
• Melvin had nine points and four rebounds with two steals in 23 minutes off the bench.
• Unangst made a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points and six rebounds. He also dished out four assists.
• Kerlin also had eight points as he made a pair of three-pointers.
• Bandy and Penn finished with five points each.
• Tang had seven assists, six rebounds, two points, and two steals.
• LVC outscored the Ducks 41-31 in the second half, shooting 48.4 percent from the field and shooting 32.4 percent in the first half. They finished 40 percent for the game.
• The Dutchmen were 11-for-12 at the free-throw line and scored 32 points in the paint.
• Lebanon Valley is fifth in the conference standings after the first round of conference play. Arcadia is first at 6-1, while Misericordia, Stevens, and DeSales are all 5-2.

Up Next
The Dutchmen begin the second half of the conference slate on Saturday with a trip to Dallas for a 3 p.m. game against the Cougars of Misericordia University.

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