WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Phil Unangst hit a buzzer-beating shot from near the free throw line to give the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team a thrilling 88-87 overtime victory over host King's College on Wednesday evening in the first Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom game of the season at McGrane Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre.
 
The Dutchmen (3-9, 1-0 MAC Freedom) needed late heroics from Unangst on an inbound pass with 1.6 seconds left despite leading for a large majority of the game (41:08) against the Monarchs (3-9, 0-1 MAC Freedom). LVC led by as many as 19 in the first half as they got out to a great start for the third consecutive game.
 
Tyler Kerlin drove to the lane for the first two points of the game. The Monarchs knocked down a three-pointer at the other end of the court, and Kerlin answered with a three-pointer at the top of the key. Kyle Tang hit a step-back jumper just inside the paint, and Unangst jumped the passing lane for a steal and score to push the lead to six. King's scored a second-chance bucket, and Kerlin knocked down another three-pointer, this time on the left wing, to put the Dutchmen up 12-5 at the first media timeout. The Monarchs scored out of the break before Tang scored on a driving layup and Demarcus Bandy knocked down a three-pointer on the left wing off a pass from Giovanni Sejuste. The Monarchs countered with a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven. Tang had a traditional three-point play, and Michael Main knocked down a three-pointer on the right side to push the advantage to 23-10 at the second media timeout.
 
The Dutchmen continued the strong play as Jason Penn scored on a layup. King's stopped the run with a three-pointer, and Sejuste knocked down a pair of shots at the line. Bandy hit his second three-pointer off a pass from Penn. Unangst scored on a layup and hit one of two shots at the line to make it 33-15 in favor of the Dutchmen with 8:47 left. Tang gave the Dutchmen their largest lead of the game at 35-16 with a pair of free throws on the next trip down the court. King's scored the next six points with four shots at the line and a jumper. LVC answered with a layup and three-pointer on the left wing by Tang. The advantage was still 18 with three minutes to play in the half when Penn stole the ball and found Tang in transition for a layup. The Monarchs held the Dutchmen scoreless for the final three minutes of the half and scored eight points to cut the deficit to 42-32 at the half. The Monarchs gained some momentum with a three-pointer right as time expired in the half.
 
King's came out and knocked down a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half. Unangst tipped in an offensive rebound, and Penn hit a three-pointer on the left wing to push the advantage to 12 at 47-35. The Monarchs responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to get within two points for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. Sejuste stopped the run with a transition bucket off a pass from Bandy. Bandy then answered a King's bucket with a three-pointer on the left side to make it 52-47 at the under-12 media timeout.
 
The teams traded scores out of the break as Sejuste knocked down a pair of free throws and Tang scored on a driving layup. The Monarchs made it a two-point game at 56-54 on a traditional three-point play. Sejuste knocked down a pair of shots, and then Tang had a steal and a bucket to give LVC an eight-point lead. The Monarchs held the Dutchmen scoreless for three minutes while scoring five points to cut the deficit to three. Tang stopped the scoreless drought with a layup. Main hit another three-pointer to make it 67-61, but the Monarchs responded with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to three at the final media timeout. King's made one of two free throws to get within two. Sejuste scored on a driving layup, and the Monarchs answered with a three-pointer. Tang pushed the advantage to three with 1:16 left on a layup. The Monarchs were able to tie the score up with 17 seconds left on three made free throws after a foul on a three-point attempt. The Dutchmen had the ball at the end of regulation but were unable to get a shot off on the final possession.
 
Penn started the extra session with a three-pointer at the top of the key. The Monarchs hit one of two free throws before Sejuste scored at the rim. The teams traded three-pointers, with Kerlin knocking down a shot on the left wing. King's scored a layup, got a stop on defense, and then knocked down a three-pointer to take the lead with two minutes on the clock. They took their largest lead of the game at five points with 21 seconds to play after a three-pointer as the shot clock was about to expire. The teams traded free throws as Tang got to the line and sank his two attempts. Tang then drove to the hoop and scored on a layup. The Dutchmen were forced to foul, and King's hit both of their shots with seven seconds left to go up 87-83. Tang quickly got the ball up court and drove to the rim, where he was fouled while scoring. The Dutchmen called a timeout to set up a defensive play after the free throw. Tang knocked down his shot at the line to make it a one-point game. The inbound pass by the Monarchs went out of bounds in front of the Dutchmen bench, giving LVC one last chance with 1.6 seconds remaining. Main passed the ball to Unangst at the post. Unangst turned around and just got the shot off in time, which banked off the backboard and in, setting off a celebration by the Dutchmen.
 
Inside the Box

• Tang scored a career-high 31 points on 12-for-18 shooting from the field with one three-pointer, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. The guard also had three assists, two rebounds, and two steals. His 31 points are the most by a Dutchman in a game this season.
• Unangst recorded his first career buzzer-beating game-winning shot and finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. The sophomore pulled down three rebounds on the offensive glass and had four steals.
• Sejuste scored 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. He has scored in double figures in three of the past four games.
• Kerlin finished with 11 points and knocked down a trio of three-pointers.
• Bandy had nine points in 12 minutes off the bench while Penn added eight points, three rebounds, and three assists.
• Main knocked down two three-pointers for six points and grabbed two rebounds with two assists.
• The Dutchmen made a season-high 33 field goals, including a season-high 11 three-pointers, and shot 46.5 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from deep.
• LVC dished out 17 assists, the second-most this year, and turned the ball over a season-low nine times.
• The Dutchmen won their conference opener for the first time since 2021.

Up Next
Lebanon Valley will host Misericordia University on Saturday at Sorrentino Gymnasium in the first home conference game of the year. Tipoff against the Cougars is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Annville.

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