Feb 19, 2011
BOX SCORE
Annville, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2011) - Alvernia University (16-6, 11-3) and Lebanon Valley College (19-6, 10-4) put on a quite a show in a meaningless game Saturday afternoon with LVC senior Anthony Trautman knocking down the overtime, game-winning buzzer beater in a 64-62 win at LVC Gymnasium.
Both teams were already locked into their playoff spots before Saturday's contest. Alvernia is the top seed and will host #4 Messiah in a semifinal Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Lebanon Valley is seeded second and will host #3 Widener at 8:00 Wednesday night.
The way regional rankings have beed stacking up it's a long shot for either team to expect an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships, so the Commonwealth representative will likely be just the winner of next Saturday's championship game.
Nonetheless the Crusaders and the Dutchmen entertained a crowd of 700-plus in Annville on Saturday.
LVC had an 11-point lead early in the second half, but Alvernia quickly erased that with a 16-5 run, and over the last nine minutes neither team held a two-possesion lead.
Trautman, who finished with a ridiculous game-high 36, scored on a layup for a 56-all tie with 41 seconds left in regulation. Alvernia ran down the clock and could only manage a Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.) runner, and LVC kicked it around on its final possession finishing with an off-the-mark 3 from Jordan Stewart.
Alvernia took a three-point lead midway through the overtime period, but Trautman took care of that on his own with back-to-back buckets.
After two Alvernia turnovers and a pair of LVC misses, the Crusaders swung the lead back to their side with an off balance layin from junior Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic). Nerney missed the and-one and the chance to push the lead to two, but the Dutchmen turned the ball over with three seconds left and fouled junior center Cory Boone (Howard, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) before he could get off the outlet.
Boone missed the front end of the 1-and-1 and LVC threw one pass to mid-court and called a timeout to set up the inbounds play right in front of its bench.
The Dutchmen showed up in a four-man stack in front of the inbounder. Stewart somehow slipped a bounce pass past Alvernia freshman Will Harmon (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) and the lefty Trautman, who is averaging 27 points per game during LVC's recent 10-game win streak, gathered the pass and hit a floating, fading 3 as time expired.
Only four Dutchmen registered points led by Trautman's 36. All eight Alvernia players who saw time registered at least two. Thompson scored a team-high 12, Nerney scored 11, and Boone finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Wednesday will be Alvernia's first playoff appearance since joining the MAC for the 2008-09 season.
Lebanon Valley 64, Alvernia 62 (OT)
Annville, Pa. (Feb. 19, 2011) - Alvernia University (16-6, 11-3) and Lebanon Valley College (19-6, 10-4) put on a quite a show in a meaningless game Saturday afternoon with LVC senior Anthony Trautman knocking down the overtime, game-winning buzzer beater in a 64-62 win at LVC Gymnasium.
Both teams were already locked into their playoff spots before Saturday's contest. Alvernia is the top seed and will host #4 Messiah in a semifinal Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. Lebanon Valley is seeded second and will host #3 Widener at 8:00 Wednesday night.
The way regional rankings have beed stacking up it's a long shot for either team to expect an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships, so the Commonwealth representative will likely be just the winner of next Saturday's championship game.
Nonetheless the Crusaders and the Dutchmen entertained a crowd of 700-plus in Annville on Saturday.
LVC had an 11-point lead early in the second half, but Alvernia quickly erased that with a 16-5 run, and over the last nine minutes neither team held a two-possesion lead.
Trautman, who finished with a ridiculous game-high 36, scored on a layup for a 56-all tie with 41 seconds left in regulation. Alvernia ran down the clock and could only manage a Stefan Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa./G.A.M.P.) runner, and LVC kicked it around on its final possession finishing with an off-the-mark 3 from Jordan Stewart.
Alvernia took a three-point lead midway through the overtime period, but Trautman took care of that on his own with back-to-back buckets.
After two Alvernia turnovers and a pair of LVC misses, the Crusaders swung the lead back to their side with an off balance layin from junior Brian Nerney (Middletown, N.J./Red Bank Catholic). Nerney missed the and-one and the chance to push the lead to two, but the Dutchmen turned the ball over with three seconds left and fouled junior center Cory Boone (Howard, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) before he could get off the outlet.
Boone missed the front end of the 1-and-1 and LVC threw one pass to mid-court and called a timeout to set up the inbounds play right in front of its bench.
The Dutchmen showed up in a four-man stack in front of the inbounder. Stewart somehow slipped a bounce pass past Alvernia freshman Will Harmon (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) and the lefty Trautman, who is averaging 27 points per game during LVC's recent 10-game win streak, gathered the pass and hit a floating, fading 3 as time expired.
Only four Dutchmen registered points led by Trautman's 36. All eight Alvernia players who saw time registered at least two. Thompson scored a team-high 12, Nerney scored 11, and Boone finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Wednesday will be Alvernia's first playoff appearance since joining the MAC for the 2008-09 season.
Lebanon Valley 64, Alvernia 62 (OT)