LVC Starters
Baker, Tucker, L. Garcia, Jones, Deihm
 
Stevenson Starters
Holton, Joseph, Williams, Devine, Wesley
 
How It Happened
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Lebanon Valley edged Stevenson 94-88 in a high-scoring affair on Thursday evening in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Commonwealth Men's Basketball action. With the win, the Flying Dutchmen clinched a spot in next Thursday's MAC Commonwealth Championship game and moved to 8-1 on the season, 7-1 MACC. The Mustangs dropped to 3-6, 3-6 MACC.
 
Throughout the game's entirety, action remained close and neither team was ever able to pull away. After KJ Holton knocked down a triple with 14:36 left in the first to put Stevenson up 11-10, Jeremy Deihm hit back-to-back free throws to put LVC back up 12-11 at 14:13. The home team answered with an 11-1 run that spanned nearly three minutes, capped by Ethan Jones' layup that made it 22-13 in favor of the Mustangs with 11:31 left. Stevenson continued hot shooting and later went up by 12 at 32-20 with 8:33 to go in the first half.
 
From there, the Dutchmen chipped away and responded with a huge 18-8 spurt and came to within one of Stevenson at 40-39 with 3:23 remaining. Later, with 2:16 left, Luis Garcia broke off in a fastbreak after a missed 3-pointer and hit a layup to even the game at 43-43. With 1:02 to go, Bryce Diehl's free throw made it 47-47, but Evan Joseph hit a pair of free throws late to tie things up at 47-47 heading into the second half.
 
Back-and-forth action ensued in the second half and at 11:36 Zach Tucker hit a big 3-pointer to put LVC ahead 67-66. Later in the half, Jalin Jordan hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe at 9:38 to bring his team to within one at 71-70, but Deihm answered with a bucket, followed by a pair of three throws from Tucker. With 6:08 left, Collin Jones knocked down a big trey that put LVC ahead by eight at 78-70. That bucket proved to be huge, as the Dutchmen never relinquished their lead down the stretch and held on for the 94-88 victory.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Zach Tucker finished with a game-high 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting and went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 - Justin Baker enjoyed a 24-point night on 9-of-13 shooting and four assists.
 - Jeremy Deihm added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and eight boards.
 - Collin Jones chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.
 - Bryce Diehl provided 10 points off the bench and had two steals.
 - Bo Wesley and Mckale Williams (17 points) led Stevenson offensively, while Evan Joseph added 16 points.
 - LVC shot an impressive 61.1% from the floor as a team, while the Mustangs shot 50%.
 - The Dutchmen led in points in the paint (48-36) and points off turnovers (15-13).
 
Playoff Picture
With tonight's win, LVC is guaranteed a spot in next Thursday's MAC Commonwealth Championship Game. The Dutchmen will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, depending on what happens tomorrow night. If LVC loses and Albright beats Alvernia, Albright gets the No. 1 seed. If LVC wins, the Dutchmen are the No. 1 seed and if both LVC and Albright lose, the Dutchmen still get the No. 1 seed.
 
Who's Next?
LVC's regular season concludes tomorrow night when the Dutchmen host the Mustangs at 7 p.m. inside Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
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