Lebanon Valley 83, Cairn 68
 
LVC Starters
Stambaugh, Light, Anderson, Orr, Boccanfuso
 
Cairn Starters
Nunnally, Jacobs, Koczman, Collazo, Hall
 
How It Happened
It was no secret that Lebanon Valley's duo of Sam Light and Andy Orrwould prove pivotal to the success of the men's basketball program's 2017-18 campaign. As they go, so will the Flying Dutchmen.
 
In the team's 83-68 season-opening victory at Cairn on Wednesday night, Nov. 15, they went. And how! Light poured in a game-high 41 points; the second-highest single-game total of his career, while Orr recorded a double-double with impressive numbers of 19 points and 17 rebounds. In the opener, the answer to the question who will be the third option LVC (1-0) can lean on was Will Boccanfuso, as he pitched in with 14 hard-earned points on 87.5 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Orr scored Lebanon Valley's first points of the season off a Boccanfuso assist 16 seconds into the contest and Light netted five straight to push the lead to 20-7 with 10:34 remaining in the first half.
 
LVC took its largest lead of the opening half when Caleb Barwin knocked down a 3-pointer to push the advantage to 34-18 at the 3:37 mark, but the Highlanders (0-1) kept things from getting too far out of hand thanks to a 10-4 run to close out the half.
 
The home team opened the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to three before Orr halted the Cairn push with a layup with 17:37 left to play. Malachi Hall's jumper again drew the Highlanders within three at 48-45 at the 13:17 mark but an 8-2 run by the Dutchmen kept them at bay with little more than 10 minutes remaining.
 
Trailing by eight with less than five minutes left, Cairn made one last push when Josh Decker connected on a jumper from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 68-63. The Dutchmen, however, turned to their senior trio of Light, Orr, and Boccanfuso to close things out.
 
Light netted 13 of the team's final 15 points, including eight tallies from the charity stripe,with Boccanfuso converting a tough layup during the impressive stretch and Orr pulling in four boards in crunch time to help seal the victory.
 
Turning Point
An alley-oop dunk by Malachi Hall cut the deficit to 66-60 and gave Cairn life with 5:24 remaining but LVC used a game-changing 11-2 run over the next 3:27 that included Sam Light burying a 3-pointer, Will Boccanfuso converting a contested layup, and Andy Orr grabbing a pair of valuable rebounds to halt the Highlanders' momentum and put the game out of reach.
 
It Was Over When…
Lebanon Valley led 74-65 with 3:47 remaining; a nice lead but not one that couldn't be overcome. Luke Stambaugh came away with a defensive board following a Cairn miss and Sam Light buried a triple in cold blood to give the Dutchmen a 12-point lead with 2:36 left to play. The Highlanders failed to cut the deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
 
Inside the Numbers
- LVC shot 51.7 percent from the floor and held the Highlanders to a 40.6 field goal percentage.
- The Dutchmen did it without an abundance of 3-balls, as the team went 4-10 from beyond the arc.
- Lebanon Valley won the rebound battle 36-33.
- LVC shot 79.2 percent from the free throw line (19-24), while Cairn got to the charity stripe just eight times.
- The Highlanders shot 29 3-pointers but connected on just eight attempts.
- Sam Light poured in a game-high 41 points on 61.9 percent shooting from the field (13-21) and 92.9 percent shooting from the foul line (13-14).
- For Light, only his 46-point performance at Albright last year ranks as a higher single-game scoring output.
- Andy Orr posted a double-double, netting 19 points, with only three of them coming from the free throw line. He pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds as well.
- For Orr, his 17 boards matched his career-high single-game total.
- Will Boccanfuso proved a vital third option for LVC, scoring 14 points on an impressive 87.5 shooting from the floor (7-8). He also added five rebounds and a game-high three steals.
- CJ Boxley dished out a team-high four assists in 14 minutes of action.
- Chris Anderson added four rebounds.
- Caleb Barwin and Collin Moore combined for Lebanon Valley's six bench points.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen host their annual Rinso Marquette Tournament beginning on Friday night, Nov. 17. LVC's home opener at Sorrentino Gymnasium comes against New Rochelle at 8 p.m.

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