GLENSIDE, Pa. -- Phil Pierfy scored his 1,000th career point and the Arcadia men's basketball team extended its win streak to nine games with an 89-57 win over Lebanon Valley on Wednesday evening.
The Knights' ninth-straight win moved their overall record to 12-2 on the season and 6-0 in league play. Lebanon Valley fell to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in the MAC Commonwealth.
Pierfy, who led all scorers with 17 points, entered the contest needing just four points to become the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He knocked down a triple at the 17:38 mark for his first three points of the game and a 7-2 lead for the Knights. With just under 12 minutes to play, he missed a pair of free throws that would have gotten him over 1,000, but shortly thereafter, Jon Lott fed him inside for the milestone layup that gave AU a 21-9 lead with 10:08 on the clock. The Knights took a moment to honor him on the court with his parents before resuming play.
Steve Pendleton followed Pierfy's layup with a triple as AU opened up a 15-point lead (24-9). Three straight three pointers by the Dutchmen, sandwiched around a Kyle Reilly triple, trimmed AU's lead to nine at 27-18, but the Knights stretched their advantage back to 15 as Reilly and Pendleton each connected from long range for a 33-18 lead.
Arcadia led 42-25 at the break, due in part to an 8 of 14 mark (.571) from long range in the first 20 minutes, while limiting LVC to 29.0 percent (9-31) shooting in the first half.
The Dutchmen got a layup from Trevor Covey at the 16:07 mark of the second half to cut its deficit to 12 points (46-34) before the Knights effectively sealed the contest with a 19-8 run over the next 7:08 to take a 65-42 lead with 8:59 to play.
Pierfy started the run with a free throw and the Knights would hit five of their next seven shots from the floor and 7 of 8 shots from the line. Seven different players scored during the burst, including five points from Kyle Reilly. Arcadia continued to pull away, stretching its lead to as many as 33 down the stretch.
Entering the game as one of the nation's stingiest defenses, the Knights held LVC to 34.3 percent shooting for the game. Lebanon Valley made just 23 of its 67 field-goal attempts, and only got to the line six times, while turning the ball over 16 times and losing the rebounding battle 44-30. It marked the 10th time this season that AU has held its opponent under 40.0 percent shooting for the game, and opponents are now shooting just 38.2 percent against the Knights. It also marked the third time this season that Arcadia has won by at least 30 points, and the fifth time that the Scarlet & Grey have scored at least 89 points in a game.
Pierfy was 6 of 10 from the floor and added four rebounds and three assists. Pendleton, Josh Scott and Reilly all scored 11 points, and Da'Kquan Davis scored 10. Davis and Evan Slone each pulled down a team-best six rebounds. Slone also had three blocks with a pair of steals, and Scott, Lott and Jordan Sanders each handed out three assists.
Jeremy Deihm led the Dutchmen with 16 points and seven rebounds. AJ Catanzaro scored 15 off the bench, and Chris Anderson chipped in 10 points and three steals.
The Knights will look to extend the program's second-longest win streak to 10 games on Saturday at Messiah (7-8, 3-3) beginning at 4 p.m.
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