Lebanon Valley 76, Hood 73
 
LVC Starters
Light, Bugg, Anderson, Orr, Boccanfuso
 
Hood Starters
Butler, Riley, Wang, Pearson, Casey
 
How It Happened
Three days after suffering a last-minute defeat at the hands of a conference rival, Lebanon Valley responded by reversing the roles in a hard-fought 76-73 victory over MAC Commonwealth foe Hood at Sorrentino Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The combination of Sam Light and Ricky Bugg was too much for the Blazers (3-6, 1-2 MAC Commonwealth) to handle in crunch time, as the duo knocked down game-changing 3-pointers in the final minutes to preserve the thrilling win. Light netted the contest's final seven points to put the game on ice.
 
Clinging to a slim 69-67 advantage with less than a minute remaining, the Flying Dutchmen (7-2, 3-1 MAC Commonwealth) converted the biggest bucket of the afternoon when Bugg passed on an attempt from beyond the arc, drove baseline, and found a wide-open Light in the right corner. Light calmly buried his attempt to put LVC up by five with 36 seconds remaining.
 
Light was fouled on the team's next trip down the floor before coolly sinking a pair of free throws. He added a steal and score on Hood's penultimate possession for good measure, making sure that Mason Wang's buzzer-beating, half-court heave would have no bearing on the final result.
 
After falling behind with less than four minutes to play, the Dutchmen scored seven-straight crucial points when Will Boccanfuso converted a layup despite getting fouled, Andy Orr drained a jumper from the top of the key, and Bugg converted an electrifying 3-pointer in front of the LVC bench to give the home team a 68-62 lead with 2:13 remaining.
 
A contested layup by Daniel Wegener cut the deficit to 69-67 with 1:08 to play but despite playing solid defense for nearly 30 seconds, Bugg's connection with Light beat the shot clock and whipped the hometown crowd into a frenzy.
 
Turning Point
After leading for the majority of the contest, the Dutchmen found themselves trailing for the first time in the second half when Daniel Wegener converted a layup from in close with 3:28 remaining. Will Boccanfuso's layup while being fouled in the paint halted the Hood momentum and sparked a run capped by Ricky Bugg's corner 3-ball at the 2:13 mark. This time when the Blazers responded, so did the Dutchmen, as Light's late-game heroics gave LVC the tightly-contested victory that had been eluding the team's grasp through the early portion of the season.


 
Inside the Numbers
- LVC shot 49.2 percent from the field, despite struggling mightily from beyond the arc (3-20).
- The Dutchmen held a slim advantage in the rebounding category at 38-34.
- Lebanon Valley also struggled a bit from the charity stripe, managing just a 64.7 percent clip (11-17).
- Sam Light netted a game-high 28 points to go along with five rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists.
- Andy Orr finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 18 points and eight boards.
- Despite foul trouble, Will Boccanfuso scored nine points on 4-4 shooting from the field and added six rebounds.
- Ricky Bugg continued his strong play with seven points, six boards, three assists, and two steals.
- Chris Anderson was stellar with the ball in his hands, finishing with a game-high nine assists, two blocks, and six points on 3-4 shooting.
- Hood's Michael Riley finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen get a week off before returning to action when they host Dickinson for a crucial non-conference showdown on Monday night, Dec. 18.

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