Lebanon Valley (7-2) has now won its last five games, the team’s longest winning streak since it captured six straight contests late in the 2004-05 campaign. Sophomore guard Kyle Enoch tied a career-high with 19 points while sophomore guard Dan Hodge added 13 points off the bench.
Goucher (4-5) had four players reach double figures in scoring, with Pierre Jones leading the way with 14 points. Cameron Brown and Joel Smith notched 13 points apiece while James Russo tallied 12. Brown led all players with nine rebounds.
The Gophers, who erased a 16-point first-half deficit, trailed by three (52-49) with 8:04 remaining following a pair of Jones free throws. But that’s when the Dutchmen went on a 7-0 run to push the lead into double digits, and LVC’s lead would not dip below seven the rest of the way.
With four seconds left, Curran went to the foul line with a chance to reach the 1,000-point mark. But after making the first shot, he front-rimmed his second attempt.
Lebanon Valley was red hot at the start of the game, making seven of its first 10 shots while building a 17-4 lead before the Gophers called a timeout with 14:03 on the clock. The Dutchmen upped their advantage to 16 (24-8) after Enoch canned a fastbreak three-pointer with 8:57 to go, but that’s when Goucher dug in defensively. The Gophers blanked LVC over the next 4:43 while running off 13 unanswered points, making it 24-21 with 4:14 on the clock after a Russo lay-up.
After a LVC timeout, freshman forward Dan Dunkelberger ended the drought when he dropped in a lay-up 3:45 before the break. Dunkelberger followed up with a pair of free throws 31 seconds later, and a put-back from freshman forward James Shinn capped a 6-0 Dutchman spurt that made it 30-21 with 1:57 left in the opening stanza. Hodge converted a lay-up with one second on the clock to give the Valley a 33-26 halftime lead.
Lebanon Valley led by six (35-29) just over two minutes into the second half before Goucher used a 10-0 run, capped by back-to-back lay-ups from Brown, to take its first lead since it was 2-0. However, the Dutchmen answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Enoch started the surge with a lay-up and a pair of free throws before Hodge knocked down two foul shots of his own. A Curran lay-up made it 43-39 with 12:11 remaining.
Jones nailed a jumper to pull the Gophers to within two (43-41) with 11:51 to go, but that’s as close as Goucher would get the rest of the way.
Shinn finished with six points and a season-high seven rebounds while Curran and Enoch also had seven boards apiece. Dunkelberger tied a season-high with eight points to with five rebounds while senior forward Brian Wolensky also grabbed five boards for the Dutchmen.
Russo corralled eight rebounds for Goucher.
Goucher vs Lebanon Valley 12-18-06 7:30 p.m. at Annville, PA - LVC Gymnasium LEBANON VALLEY 74, GOUCHER 62 GOUCHER (4-5) Pierre Jones 5-11 4-10 14; Joel Smith 4-8 3-4 13; Cameron Brown 6-12 1-2 13; James Russo 3-9 5-7 12; Tim Merritt 2-3 0-0 4; Miguel Negron 0-3 2-2 2; Brent Stanford 0-4 2-4 2; Chris Miller 0-4 2-2 2; Jon Sicherman 0-0 0-0 0; Ian Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 19-31 62. LEBANON VALLEY (7-2) Jimmy Curran 8-16 6-9 23; Kyle Enoch 6-12 4-4 19; Dan Hodge 5-12 2-5 13; Dan Dunkelberger 3-5 2-3 8; James Shinn 3-5 0-0 6; H. Bretschneider 1-6 0-0 3; Brian Wolensky 1-3 0-1 2; Matt Covucci 0-0 0-0 0; Luke Foster 0-1 0-0 0; Peter Ruth 0-0 0-2 0; Dustin Kerns 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 14-24 74. Goucher....................... 26 36 - 62 Lebanon Valley................ 33 41 - 74 3-point goals--Goucher 3-15 (Joel Smith 2-5; James Russo 1-5; Miguel Negron 0-2; Brent Stanford 0-2; Cameron Brown 0-1), Lebanon Valley 6-20 (Kyle Enoch 3-8; Jimmy Curran 1-2; H. Bretschneider 1-6; Dan Hodge 1-4). Fouled out--Goucher-None, Lebanon Valley-None. Rebounds--Goucher 37 (Cameron Brown 9), Lebanon Valley 43 (James Shinn 7; Jimmy Curran 7; Kyle Enoch 7). Assists--Goucher 13 (Brent Stanford 4; Tim Merritt 4), Lebanon Valley 14 (Kyle Enoch 4). Total fouls--Goucher 27, Lebanon Valley 24. Technical fouls--Goucher-None, Lebanon Valley-None. A-382