ANNVILLE, PA. -- The Gwynedd Mercy University Men's Basketball team scored a 96-81 road victory over Lebanon Valley College on Wednesday evening.

The Griffins (8-1), now winners of seven straight, were led by senior Rip Engel who scored a team-high 23 points knocking down five three pointers. Fellow senior Will Davis added 20 points with 14 coming in the second half alone. He also led GMercyU with seven rebounds. Rich Dunham (15), Matt Sommers (11) and Courtney Cubbage (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers on the evening.

The Griffins jumped out to an early lead (6-2) thanks to back-to-back buckets from Cubbage and Dunham. The Dutchmen responded with an 8-0 run to take a 10-6 lead just under the fifteen minute mark. Gwynedd would cut the lead to two (12-10) but the Dutchmen would take their largest lead at 21-13. A Matt Carter triple would cut into the lead and kickstart an 8-0 Griffin spurt. A Sommers free throw, Chris Lopez jumper and Engel layup would tie the game at 21-21 with just under eight minutes remaining.

Leb Val (8-3) would retake the lead but GMercyU would use a 7-0 run to take a 28-26 lead capped by Engel's second three ball of the half. The Griffins would stretch their lead to eight (38-30) with a Manny Lopez layup with just over three minutes remaining. LVC cut into the lead but the Griffins held a 43-40 halftime edge. Engel led GMercyU with 13 points in the stanza.

GMercyU would hold a 55-48 lead early in the second half. The Dutchmen would tie the game at 55-55 at the 14:33 mark. Over the next five minutes in the half the teams traded six lead changes but found themselves again tied at 68-68 with 9:06 remaining. A Ty Jones three pointer would put the Griffins up for good and Cubbage would bookend a 10-0 run with six points during the spurt to put Gwynedd up 81-70 with just under six minutes remaining. Leb Val would cut the lead to six (81-75) but the Griffins would close out the game on a 15-6 run over the last five minutes. A Dunham three pointer would cap the stretch to extend the lead to fifteen with 1:15 left.

For the game the Griffins shot 54% from the field (34-of-63) making 11 team three pointers and connecting on 17-of-24 free throw attempts. Gwynedd held Leb Val to 38.5% from the field (25-of-65) but the Dutchmen made the most of their free throws shooting 26-of-31 from the line.

Andy Orr led Leb Val with a game high 25 points and 11 rebounds. The Dutchmen would out-rebound the Griffins, 41-33, marking just the first game of the season the team trailed in that category.

Dunham led Gwynedd with seven assists while Cubbage pulled down five rebounds.

The Griffins will close out 2017 traveling to Kean University on Friday evening at 7 p.m.