ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's basketball team had four scorers in double figures during a heartbreaking 87-85 overtime defeat to Lycoming College on Saturday afternoon at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Dutchmen got off to another strong start for the second consecutive game as Phil Unangst stole the ball and raced down court for a fastbreak layup. The sophomore gave LVC a 5-0 lead a couple of minutes in as Jason Penn found him open under the hoop for a bucket while being fouled. Tyler Kerlin had a pull-up jumper on the elbow to give the Dutchmen a 7-0 advantage.
 
The Dutchmen continued playing strong defense as Unangst recorded another steal and hit Penn in transition for a layup. The lead blossomed to 12 after a Kerlin three-pointer on the left side off a feed from Karson Pavlik. Lycoming called a timeout to stop the momentum and answered with a three-pointer, a tip-in bucket, and a layup to cut the lead to five points. Giovanni Sejuste scored a pair of buckets in the paint before a pair of three-pointers by the Warriors made it a one-point game at 16-15 with 12 minutes to go in the half.
 
Luke Chilton stopped the Warriors' run with a layup. Demarcus Bandy knocked down a pair of shots at the line and then recorded a steal and bucket to push the advantage up to 22-15. Unangst hit one of two free throws before a three-pointer, and a basket by the Warriors made it a three-point game. Kyle Tang found Kerlin open on the right wing for a three-pointer, and then Lycoming responded with a layup and two free throws to make it a one-possession game. Tang drove for a layup, and the Warriors answered with a three-pointer.
 
Lycoming took its first lead of the game with just over three minutes to play in the half on a jumper in the paint. A steal and a bucket increased the lead to three. Michael Main put the Dutchmen back on top with a pair of three-pointers, first a deep ball on the right wing, and then a step-back on the left side. Bandy drove to the hoop to give the Dutchmen a 36-31 lead with just under a minute left in the half. The Warriors hit a pair of free throws to cut it to three at halftime.
 
Lycoming got a steal and layup to start the second half. The teams traded turnovers and missed shots until Unangst scored on a driving layup with 17:40 on the clock. The Warriors scored the next five points to take a 40-38 advantage. Unangst and Tang scored on back-to-back driving layups to give LVC back the lead. Lycoming hit a three-pointer, and then Unangst tied the game at 43 with a made free throw.  Unangst recorded another steal and took the ball to the rim in transition. Pavlik knocked down a turnaround jumper at the foul line to push the lead to four. Penn pushed the lead to 52-45 with a pull-up three-pointer in transition near the top of the key with 12 minutes left.
 
The Warriors used a 9-4 run over the next three minutes to get the deficit down to two points. Pavlik and Sejuste had layups for the Dutchmen during the run. Lycoming continued their run with three consecutive layups to take a 60-46 lead. Penn stopped the run with a three-pointer on the right wing off a pass from Bandy. After the Warriors knocked down two shots at the line, Penn found Bandy at the top of the key for a game-tying three-pointer. Penn then stole the ball and scored in transition before grabbing a defensive rebound and taking the ball the length of the court for another fastbreak layup.
 
Lycoming scored the next four points to even the score at 66 with just under four to play. Penn hit a step-back jumper on the left side while being fouled and converted the shot at the line. A layup by the Warriors cut the lead to one before Main hit a big corner three. Lycoming responded with a pair of free throws and a bucket to tie the game back up with two minutes to go. Main hit a pull-up jumper at the free throw line, and then Bandy knocked down a pair of shots at the line to make it a four-point game with 22 seconds on the clock. The Warriors scored with 10 seconds on a put-back. LVC had an opportunity to put the game away when Penn missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line, and Lycoming grabbed the rebound. The Warriors came out of a timeout and moved the ball quickly up court and scored on a driving layup just before the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
 
The Warriors started the overtime session with the first six points. Sejuste got the Dutchmen on the board with a pair of free throws. Penn then drew a foul while making a two at the top of the key and sank his free throw to make it a one-point game. The Warriors got the lead back up to four before Penn drilled a three-pointer from the left wing off a handoff by Unangst. Penn was fouled during the shot and nailed the free throw to even the score on a four-point play with 31 seconds left. The Warriors called a timeout with 14 seconds left to set up a play. They were able to score with 2.3 seconds left on a layup. The Dutchmen pushed the ball quickly up court, but a last-second shot from Bandy was off the mark.
 
Inside the Box

• Penn had another strong game, scoring a season-high 22 points for the second consecutive game. He was 8-for-14 from the field and knocked down three three-pointers. The junior also dished out five assists.
• Unangst recorded his first career double-double with a season-high 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive glass. The sophomore also recorded a season-high three steals.
• Bandy also scored 13 points and had four rebounds with three assists and three steals. The guard was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. He has scored in double digits six times this year.
• Main scored a career-high 11 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 on three-pointers.
• Kerlin and Sejuste added eight points each, while Tang and Pavlik had four apiece. Pavlik also pulled down seven rebounds.
• The game had nine lead changes and nine ties. The Dutchmen held the lead for 31:27 and shot 49.2 percent from the field.
• LVC received 34 points from its bench and scored 17 points in transition.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will begin conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 7, as the squad makes the trip up I-81 to take on King's College. Tip-off against the Monarchs is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside McGrane Gymnasium.

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