LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, L. Garcia, Jones, Deihm
 
Eastern Starters
Fairweather, Bacon, Gallardo, Ward, Blet
 
How It Happened
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley ran away from Eastern University in the second half and defeated the Eagles 73-60 on Monday night in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Men's Basketball action. The Flying Dutchmen improved to 7-1, 6-1 MACC, while Eastern dropped to 0-6, 0-4 MACC.
 
Heading into second-half action, LVC found itself up by just one point at 33-32, but the Dutchmen quickly turned on the jets and opened up the second period with a 16-6 spurt spanning 6:42 to take a 49-38 lead. LVC continued to extend its lead thanks to Luis Garcia's triple at 12:53, followed by Collin Jones trey at 12:28 to increase its advantage to 16 at 56-40. The Dutchmen's opening run in the second proved to be the backbreaker, as the Eagles were never able to recover. For the remainder of the half, LVC held a comfortable double-digit advantage thanks to a balanced attack and led by as many as 19 down the stretch in the Dutchmen's 73-60 win.
 
To begin the game, Eastern began the first with an 8-2 run, capped by Jaron Fairweather's 3-pointer with 17:38 remaining. The Eagles then extended their lead later to 21-12 with 11:06 to go, but six straight points by LVC brought the home team back to within three at 21-18 with 7:46 to go in the opening half. The game remained close and with 1:22 left, Jeremy Deihm's free throw tied the game at 31-31. Then, with 45 seconds to go, Deihm's fastbreak-layup from Jaylen Reichner gave the Dutchmen their first lead since it was 1-0 with 18:52 left.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Collin Jones went for 17 points and added nine rebounds, four blocks, and three steals.
 - Justin Baker ended with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
 - Zach Tucker added 13 points and a pair of assists.
 - Jeremy Deihm went for a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
  - Luis Garcia finished with 10 points, three assists, and four boards.
 - Jaylen Reichner chipped in four assists and a pair of steals off the bench.
 - Eastern's Sam Gallardo led all scorers this evening with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
 - LVC shot 45.8% from the field, compared to Eastern at 38.3%.
 - The Dutchmen led in points off turnovers (20-18), points in the paint (48-30), and fastbreak points (17-12).
 
Playoff Picture
Lebanon Valley (6-1) continues to sit atop the MAC Commonwealth with two regular-season games remaining. Albright is currently 4-1, while Alvernia sits at 3-1. On March 18th, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will play for a MAC Commonwealth Championship.
 
Who's Next?
The Dutchmen will conclude their regular season later this week, starting with a game in Owings Mills, Md. Against Stevenson on Thursday at 7 p.m. LVC will then host the Mustangs the following night at 7 p.m.
 
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