Annville, Pa. (March 4, 2021) - Lebanon Valley College (6-0, 5-0) used a 50 point first half to pace the Dutchmen to an 87-71 win over Alvernia University (2-1, 2-1) to remain unbeaten on Thursday night in MAC Commonwealth men's basketball action at Lebanon Valley.
After Lebanon Valley's Jeremy Deihm scored the opening points of the game, Alvernia's Malik Green answered with a three to give the Golden Wolves the early 3-2 lead after 90 seconds of action.
That early lead would turn out to be Alvernia's only lead of the game as Lebanon Valley led the rest of the way.
With 14:05 left in the first half, Lebanon Valley's Bryce Diehl knocked down a three that would spark a 12-5 run by the Dutchmen over the next four minutes to put Lebanon Valley up 26-14 . Two made free throws by Alvernia's Jakob Kelly put an end to quick burst by the Dutchmen with 10:10 left in the half.
After Alvernia cut the lead back down to single digits on a 3-pointer from Keon Taylor, the Dutchmen went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead back to 18, 44-26, with 3:06 left in the half.
A jumper by Lebanon Valley's Justin Baker as time expired in the first half gave the Dutchmen a 50-33 lead going into the break.
The Golden Wolves hung around in the first six minutes of the second half, and a jumper by Taylor cut Lebanon Valley's lead down to nine, 60-51, with 13:52 remaining. But, Alvernia would never get closer as layup from Jones sparked a 10-3 run by Lebanon Valley to put the Dutchmen up 70-54 with ten minutes remaining.
A layup from Zach Tucker with 3:20 remaining gave Lebanon Valley its largest lead of the night, 84-63.
Alvernia made a series of foul shots in the final minutes as Lebanon Valley took the 87-71 win to remain undefeated on the season.
The Golden Wolves had five players reach double digit scoring, with Malik Green leading the way with 20 points and a team-high six rebounds. Keon Taylor finished the night with 17 points and five rebounds.
Collin Jones led Lebanon Valley with 29 points and seven rebounds. He was 10-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
The two teams meet again Friday night as Alvernia hosts the Dutchmen at 8 PM to close out the series.
