Lebanon Valley (14-9, 8-4 CC) came into the game in sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth standings but its loss, coupled with Widener’s 51-45 victory at Susquehanna on Saturday, moves the Valley into a tie with Widener for first place.
Elizabethtown (15-7, 7-5 CC), which won for the third time in its last four game, moved into fourth place in the conference standings with the victory.
The start of the game was delayed a half hour due to traveling difficulties experienced by Elizabethtown.
The Blue Jays were led by junior guard Jon Connor, who scored a team-high 19 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting.
Senior guard Evan Harlor finished with 11 points and became Lebanon Valley’s 28th career 1,000-point scorer. Coming into the game needing seven points to reach the milestone, Harlor scored eight points over the game’s opening 7:56. His three-pointer with 12:04 left in the first half pushed him over the mark, giving him 1,001 career points.
Byers shot 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-10 from three-point range. His 26 points tied his own LVC Gymnasium record that he shares with Albright’s Terron Buchanon.
The game was tied at 75 with 2:30 left following a three-pointer from sophomore forward Dave Kasyan, but that would turn out to be the Valley’s final points of the game. Neither team was able to muster a field goal the rest of the way, but the Blue Jays hit seven of their next eight free throws to pull out the win.
Junior guard Kyle Conrad hit a pair of free throws with 1:31 on the clock, then knocked down two more with 57 seconds to go as E-town extended its lead to 79-75. Connor made it six in a row for the Blue Jays when he converted a pair of foul shots with 37 seconds left, and junior forward Dan Keane added a free throw with 23 seconds remaining.
In the final 2:29, LVC went 0-for-3 from the field, missed the front end of a one-on-one foul shot opportunity, and committed four turnovers.
Senior center Ian Daecher added 14 points for E-town while senior guard Jim Barron and sophomore guard Greg Adams contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Kasyan finished with 16 points for LVC while junior forward Steve Buzinski added 11 points.
The first half went back and forth, with neither side leading by more than five for most of the opening period. E-town trailed by three (31-28) with 3:32 remaining in the half when LVC reeled off a 9-1 run to open up its largest lead of the game (40-29) with 58 seconds left in the stanza. But E-town came right back with a 5-1 surge and trailed just 41-34 at the half following a three-pointer from the left baseline by Conrad five seconds before the buzzer.
The Blue Jays continued to chip away in the second half and came all the way back to take the lead (46-45) after a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Brad Schreiber with 14:42 left. However, LVC reclaimed the lead when Byers converted a fastbreak layup seven seconds later, and the Dutchmen would not trail until the game’s final four minutes.
Lebanon Valley saw its lead reach as much as six on three occasions, the last coming with 8:42 to go following a three-pointer from Byers. LVC led by four (72-68) after a pair of Byers free throws with 5:38 left, but the Blue Jays answered with a 6-0 spurt, capped by a jumper from Barron, as E-town took a 74-72 lead with 3:45 remaining.
Conrad made 1-of-2 free throws with 2:57 left before Kasyan’s game-tying three-pointer 27 seconds later.
Both teams shot well from the field, as E-town connected on 50.0% of its shots while LVC shot at a 49.1% clip. The Blue Jays shot 71.4% (20-of-28) at the foul line while LVC went 65.2% (15-of-23) at the charity stripe.
Forty-nine total fouls were called.
At halftime of the game, LVC secretary of financial aid Deb Atkins was awarded the Hot Dog Frank Athletic Service Award.
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Newspaper Box Score Elizabethtown vs Lebanon Valley 2/14/04 2:00 p.m. at Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium At Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium ELIZABETHTOWN 82, LEBANON VALLEY 75 ELIZABETHTOWN (15-7, 7-5 CC) Jon Connor 5-9 5-8 19; Ian Daecher 5-8 4-4 14; Jim Barron 5-10 0-0 11; Kyle Conrad 2-9 5-6 10; Greg Adams 4-7 1-1 9; Darryl Brown 3-3 0-0 6; Andrew Flynn 2-2 1-2 5; Dan Keane 1-6 2-4 4; Brian Schreiber 1-1 2-3 4; Graham Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 20-28 82. LEBANON VALLEY (14-9, 8-4 CC) J.D. Byers 7-13 8-10 26; Dave Kasyan 7-10 0-0 16; Evan Harlor 4-11 1-2 11; Steve Buzinski 5-8 1-1 11; Jimmy Curran 2-5 3-5 7; Jeff Kline 1-1 1-2 3; Matt Polinsky 0-1 1-2 1; Dan Hogan 0-4 0-1 0. Totals 26-53 15-23 75. Elizabethtown................. 34 48 - 82 Lebanon Valley................ 41 34 - 75 3-point goals-Elizabethtown 6-20 (Jon Connor 4-8; Jim Barron 1-3; Kyle Conrad 1-8; Graham Smith 0-1), Lebanon Valley 8-23 (J.D. Byers 4-10; Evan Harlor 2-7; Dave Kasyan 2-4; Matt Polinsky 0-1; Jimmy Curran 0-1). Fouled out--Elizabethtown-None, Lebanon Valley-Jimmy Curran. Rebounds-Elizabethtown 31 (Darryl Brown 5; Andrew Flynn 5), Lebanon Valley 31 (Dan Hogan 6). Assists-Elizabethtown 12 (Greg Adams 3; Ian Daecher 3), Lebanon Valley 17 (Jimmy Curran 3; J.D. Byers 3; Dan Hogan 3). Total fouls-Elizabethtown 23, Lebanon Valley 26. A-1606 Byers ties LVC Gymnasium record with 26 points