News Release

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Kevin Cuff scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Susquehanna University knocked off Lebanon Valley College 78-66 in Commonwealth Conference men’s basketball action at O.W. Houts Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Cuff went 10-for-18 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, and hit all seven of his foul shots as the Crusaders (11-6 overall, 3-3 Commonwealth) used a 16-2 second-half run to send the Flying Dutchmen (10-7 overall, 2-4 Commonwealth) to their fourth consecutive loss.

Jimmy Curran led Lebanon Valley with 20 points while Peter Ruth added a career-high 14 points for the Dutchmen, who shot 41.3 percent (26-for-63) from the field in the game and were outrebounded by the Crusaders 38-33.

Joel Patch finished 6-for-7 from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line for 17 points along with nine rebounds for Susquehanna, as the Crusaders placed four players in double figures and shot 47.4 percent (27-for-57) from the field in the game including 51.9 percent (14-for-27) in the second half.

Susquehanna went on a 10-0 run early in the contest to take a 17-10 lead with 12:29 left in the first half, and held a 29-18 lead with 5:39 left in the half before the Dutchmen reeled off 10 straight points, including three-pointers by Hunter Bretschneider and Kyle Enoch, to pull within 29-28 with three minutes remaining in the half.

The Crusaders held a 35-32 lead at intermission behind 11 points each by Cuff and Zac Smith, while Curran paced the Dutchmen with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Lebanon Valley twice led by one point early in the second half, the last time at 41-40 following a Curran layup with 17:28 to play. Susquehanna’s lead stood at 49-48 with 14:44 remaining when the Crusaders reeled off 16 of the next 18 points – six each from Cuff and Andy Gaebel and four by Patch – to move ahead 65-50 with 7:05 to go.

The Crusader lead was trimmed to 69-61 on a three-pointer by Curran with 1:48 left, but a three-point play by Patch restored Susquehanna’s 11-point lead with 1:36 to go and baskets from Cuff and Gaebel sealed the Crusader win.

Gaebel finished with 11 points in 23 minutes off the Susquehanna bench while Smith tallied 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting in 18 minutes. Todd DeNapoli came off the Susquehanna bench with 17:36 remaining and played the rest of the way at point guard, finishing with three points, four rebounds and four assists.

SUSQUEHANNA 78, LEBANON VALLEY 66
LEBANON VALLEY (10-7, 2-4 Comm.)
Jimmy Curran 7-16 4-4 20; Peter Ruth 7-11 0-0 14; Hunter Bretschneider 3-10
0-0 8; Dustin Kerns 2-3 0-0 6; Dan Hodge 2-7 2-2 6; Kyle Enoch 2-7 0-0 5;
Eric Humphrey 2-3 0-0 4; Matt Covucci 1-3 0-2 2; Brian Wolensky 0-0 1-2 1;
Dan Dunkelberger 0-2 0-2 0; James Shinn 0-1 0-0 0; Luke Foster 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 26-63 7-12 66.
SUSQUEHANNA (11-6, 3-3 Comm.)
Kevin Cuff 10-18 7-7 30; Joel Patch 6-7 5-5 17; Zac Smith 5-7 1-1 13; Andy
Gaebel 4-10 2-2 11; Todd DeNapoli 1-2 0-1 3; Matt McDevitt 1-3 0-0 3; Brad
Okonak 0-6 1-2 1; Chad Cohle 0-1 0-0 0; Bryan Majors 0-2 0-0 0; Marcus Burke
0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Andersen 0-0 0-0 0; Sam Thomas 0-0 0-0 0; Zach Fowler 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 27-57 16-18 78.
Lebanon Valley................   32   34  -   66
Susquehanna...................   35   43  -   78
3-point goals-Lebanon Valley 7-25 (H. Bretschneider 2-7; Dustin Kerns 2-3;
Jimmy Curran 2-5; Kyle Enoch 1-5; Matt Covucci 0-1; Dan Hodge 0-4),
Susquehanna 8-20 (Kevin Cuff 3-4; Zac Smith 2-4; Andy Gaebel 1-4; Matt
McDevitt 1-2; Todd DeNapoli 1-2; Bryan Majors 0-1; Brad Okonak 0-3). Fouled
out--Lebanon Valley-None, Susquehanna-None. Rebounds-Lebanon Valley 33 (Luke
Foster 6), Susquehanna 38 (Joel Patch 9; Kevin Cuff 9). Assists-Lebanon
Valley 13 (Hunter Bretschneider 7), Susquehanna 16 (Bryan Majors 5). Total
fouls-Lebanon Valley 17, Susquehanna 15. A-800