Lebanon Valley 66, Widener 61
 
LVC Starters
Light, Bugg, Anderson, Orr, Boccanfuso
 
Widener Starters
Boyd, Drews, Howard, McMahon, Jackson
 
How It Happened
Lebanon Valley held off a pesky Widener team and secured a hard-fought, 66-61 victory at WU's Schwartz Center in the team's MAC Commonwealth opener on Wednesday night, Nov. 29.
 
The Flying Dutchmen (5-1, 1-0 MAC Commonwealth) were led by their big three of Sam Light, Andy Orr, and Will Boccanfuso, as each player reached the double-digit scoring mark and combined for 41 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists. Balance also played a role in the win, with LVC's bench chipping in with 19 points and 12 boards.
 
It was all Lebanon Valley in the early going, as the visitors jumped out a commanding 26-10 advantage midway through the first half, with Light's 3-pointer at the 10:56 mark giving the Dutchmen their largest lead of the night.
 
Following a Light steal and score with 6:29 left in the opening half, the Pride (2-3, 0-1 MAC Commonwealth) clawed their way back into it by putting together a 15-2 run that cut the deficit to a much more manageable three points at the break.
 
After trading buckets early in the second half, the Dutchmen reclaimed some of their early momentum when Andrew Eberhart knocked down a jumper and Zach Tucker buried a look from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 52-39 with 9:56 left to play.
 
Boccanfuso made a couple plays in the low post and converted layups to keep the lead in double digits, while Orr's old-fashioned 3-point play with 2:40 remaining kept things comfortable at 62-48.
 
From there, Widener caught fire. Trailing by 12 with little more than a minute remaining, the Pride netted nine in a row and took advantage of a handful of errant LVC free throws to cut the deficit to just three points with 13 ticks left.
 
Tucker was finally able to put things on ice by draining two foul shots and making it a two-possession game with 11 seconds left to play.   
 
Inside the Numbers
- Lebanon Valley has now won its last four conference openers.
- LVC shot 45.3 percent from the field, including 47.1 percent (8-17) from beyond the arc.
- The Dutchmen reserves outscored Widener's bench 19-0.
- Sam Light scored a team-high 15 points, adding five rebounds and a steal.
- Will Boccanfuso missed just one field goal in racking up 14 points and a game-high four assists.
- Andy Orr pitched in with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
- Zach Tucker was effective off the bench, finishing with seven points and five rebounds.
- Luke Stambaugh converted a pair of 3-pointers in 10 minutes of action.
- Andrew Eberhart posted four points and four boards in a reserve role.
- Widener's Elijah Boyd scored a game-high 21 points, but went 9-21 in earning his total.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen continue conference play when they welcome Alvernia to Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2.

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