ANNVILLE (PA) – Delaware Valley College nearly rallied from a 14-point, halftime deficit, but host Lebanon Valley College hung on for the 85-82, non-conference victory.

The win improved the Flying Dutchmen to 3-6 while the Aggies ended the first semester with a 5-5 mark. Delaware Valley will now have 11 days off until it meets Hobart College at the Sponaugle New Year Tournament at Franklin & Marshall College.

Fouls and free throws were the difference in the game, especially in the first half as the Aggies were called for 18 personal fouls and Lebanon Valley went to the foul line 24 times where it made 20. On the other side, Delaware Valley had 11 trips to the charity stripe (made eight) on 11 Flying Dutchmen fouls in the opening half.

Those 12 extra made free throws as well as two extra treys (both teams hit 12 total shots from the field) helped give Lebanon Valley a 48-34 advantage at the break. In fact, it was a five-point game with 4:02 remaining in the stanza when nine made free throws as well as pair of 3-pointers were part of a 15-6 run to end the half. 

The Aggies had a great start to the second stanza as they outscored the Flying Dutchmen, 22-11, in the first six minutes to make it a 59-56 ballgame. Zach Sibel had 14 of the 22 points thanks to four treys, three free throws (all on a 3-point try) and a layup.

Lebanon Valley responded with eight straight to put the lead back to double digits and it was still there as the second half hit the midway point. Then 3-pointers by Jay Donovan and Daron Waller were part of a 7-2 spurt to cut the Aggie deficit to five. Kevin Agnew hit a free throw for the Flying Dutchmen which was followed by a layup from Sibel and a jumper by Chris Moran as Delaware Valley trailed by just two, 74-72, with 4:20 remaining.

Lebanon Valley went up six and still held a two-possession lead in the closing minute when a Francis Arnold bomb gave the Aggies a chance at 81-79 with 43 ticks left. Agnew was fouled and hit both free throws with 18 seconds to go to put the Flying Dutchmen up four. Arnold missed a jumper and Travis Conrad, who grabbed the defensive board, was fouled and hit both foul shots with six seconds left to seal the deal.

Lebanon Valley, which wound up hitting 27 of 34 free throws for the afternoon (Delaware Valley was 14-for-17), was paced by Agnew as he had 22 points, including an 11-for-16 effort from the line. Kyler Burke had 21 points and eight rebounds while Luke Berguson and Conrad had 15 and 11 points respectively.

Sibel was 5-for-6 from 3-point land and finished with 22 points for the Aggies. Arnold followed with 18 points while Nick Sullivan came off the bench to pour in 10 points. Waller saw 14 minutes of action off the bench and hit all three of his 3-point attempts to notch nine points