ANNVILLE, Pa. – Jason Penn knocked down a three-pointer on the left wing to break a 73-73 tie with 26.9 seconds left to propel the Lebanon Valley men's basketball team to a thrilling 79-77 victory on Saturday afternoon at Sorrentino Gymnasium in Annville.
 
The Flying Dutchmen (6-15, 4-6 MAC Freedom) completed the season sweep of the Monarchs (5-16, 2-8 MAC Freedom) while keeping the team's postseason hopes alive heading into the final two weeks of the season. Kyle Tang gave LVC the early lead as he hit a turnaround jumper in the paint after grabbing an offensive rebound on the opening possession of the game. King's answered right back with a three-pointer at the other end. Tang grabbed another offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Reed Melvin at the top of the key for a three-pointer. The Monarchs evened the score with a layup, and after a Tang free throw, they used a 6-2 run over a span of 90 seconds to go up 11-8. Bandy made a pair of free throws for the Dutchmen during the run.
 
Melvin hit a transition turnaround jumper just outside the paint to stop the run. The teams traded buckets with Giovanni Sejuste backing his way down for a layup. The Monarchs led 15-12 when Tang found Karson Pavlik open on the right side for a three-pointer. King's answered with a three-pointer of their own, before LVC fired right back with a transition three-pointer by Phil Unangst off a pass from Tang to even the score at 18. The Dutchmen responded to a KC bucket with back-to-back buckets from Tyler Kerlin as the sophomore hit a pull-up just outside the lane and then knocked down a corner three off another assist by Tang. The Monarchs countered with a pair of layups and two free throws while holding the Dutchmen scoreless for nearly two minutes to take a three-point edge.
 
Unangst hit a baseline jumper before a KC three-pointer gave the visitors their largest lead of the game at four. LVC answered with a layup by Sejuste, a hook shot in the paint by Unangst, and a three-pointer by Michael Main on the right wing to take a 32-29 lead with 6:39 left in the half. The Dutchmen continued their run after a Monarch bucket, as they held KC scoreless for four minutes while increasing the advantage to 10. Sejuste knocked down a shot just inside the three-point line, Luke Chilton put a shot off the glass in transition, and then Penn drove his way to the rim for two points. Penn gave LVC a 41-31 lead with 3:14 left as he hit a three-pointer on the right side off a pass from Tang. The Monarchs made a pair of free throws, but Sejuste put back his own miss under the basket, and then Penn hit a step-back jumper in the corner to give the Dutchmen a 45-33 lead at the half.
 
Tang began the scoring in the second half with a pair of free throws nearly a minute into the period that gave LVC its largest lead at 14 points. The Monarchs responded with a 9-0 run over the next 90 seconds to cut the deficit down to five at 47-42. Demarcus Bandy hit a running jumper shot in the paint to end the scoreless drought. A minute later, KC made a layup. Tang scored the next four points on two free throws and a driving layup to bring the advantage back up to nine with 14 minutes to play. King's made a three-pointer before the teams traded buckets to make it 55-49 with 12 minutes left. Bandy pulled up at the foul line for LVC's bucket. Tang had a steal and a layup before Bandy scored on a hook shot in the paint to push the advantage to 10.
 
The Monarchs began their comeback attempt with 11 minutes remaining, making a layup and a three-pointer to cut the deficit to five. Tang made a pull-up bucket in the paint before a made free throw and a layup by the visitors made it a four-point game at 61-57. Unangst knocked down a running jumper in the paint before a 7-0 run ending on a three-pointer gave the Monarchs the lead at 64-63 with 5:20 on the clock. Penn knocked down a running jumper to give the Dutchmen back the lead with 4:30 left. King's answered right back with the next four points to go up three.
 
Penn tied the game with a left-wing three-pointer off a pass from Bandy. The Monarchs struck back at the other end with a three-pointer. Sejuste got the deficit to one with a pair of free throws before KC scored to keep a three-point advantage. Tang drove to the rim for a layup with 1:39 remaining. The Dutchmen got a stop on defense, and then Sejuste drew a foul and made the back end of his two free throws to tie the game at 73. The Monarchs missed a three-pointer with Tang grabbing the defensive rebound. Penn first missed a jumper in the paint, but Bandy grabbed the rebound. Tang then found Penn open on the left wing for a three-pointer with 26.9 seconds on the clock to give the Dutchmen the lead.
 
The Monarchs missed a layup, and Sejuste grabbed the rebound. King's was forced to foul Sejuste, and the first-year hit both his free throws. The Monarchs cut the lead to two with a three-pointer with seven seconds left. Tang made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game with four seconds remaining. LVC put the Monarchs at the line instead of letting them attempt a shot. They made the first free throw with 1.1 seconds left, and the second attempt bounced off the rim, and time expired before anyone was able to grab the rebound.
 
Inside the Box

• Tang led the Dutchmen with 16 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. He scored 13 of his points in the second half after dishing out five assists in the first half.
• Penn finished with 15 points, including eight in the second half. The sophomore made a trio of three-pointers for the third time this season.
• Sejuste was the third scorer in double figures with 13 points and six rebounds. He has scored at least 10 points in all 10 conference games.
• Unangst had nine points and five rebounds while Bandy finished with eight points and five rebounds. Melvin and Kerlin added five points each.
• LVC took care of the ball with a season-low four turnovers. The Dutchmen had nine points off nine KC turnovers.
• The Dutchmen completed the season sweep of the Monarchs, needing late-game heroics in each contest. This matchup saw 12 lead changes and eight times where the score was tied.
• Lebanon Valley is fifth in the conference standings with four games left to play in the regular season. They are two games back of Misericordia for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Up Next
LVC will hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to Madison, N.J., to take on FDU-Florham. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Ferguson Recreation Center.

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