Lebanon Valley’s win was its second upset of the tournament after knocking off third-seeded Ursinus 84-83 on Wednesday.
The Dutchmen (16-12) will now face top-seeded DeSales in the tournament championship game at 3 p.m. on Sunday. DeSales defeated fourth-seeded Albright 73-72 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
Lebanon Valley’s appearance in the ECAC Southern Region championship game will mark its third in the last seven years. The Valley won the tournament in both 1998 and 2000.
LVC’s win avenged its 65-51 loss to Alvernia in the championship game of the Alvernia Tip-Off Tournament in November.
The Dutchmen trailed 36-27 at halftime after shooting 34.4% in the opening stanza. But LVC outscored the Crusaders 44-32 in the second half in which it shot 57.7% from the field.
Alvernia (21-7) shot 43.8% in the first half but dropped to 34.4% shooting in the second period.
Alvernia led 66-64 with 3:02 left following a conventional three-point play by Ray Strickland, who led all scorers with 27 points. But LVC outscored the Crusaders 7-2 the rest of the way to escape with the win.
LVC was led by junior guard J.D. Byers, who scored a team-high 19 points while handing out a game-high 10 assists. All five of his field goals were three-pointers. He also hit four big free throws in the final 29 seconds.
Senior guard Evan Harlor and junior forward Steve Buzinski added 16 points apiece, with Harlor hitting four three-pointers and Buzinski pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Jimmy Curran added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench and had a big three-pointer late in the game.
Akeem Washington posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Alvernia.
The Crusaders were in control for most of the first half, as the Valley held the lead only four times over opening 20 minutes. However, neither team led by than six for most of the way, and LVC trailed by only one (24-23) with 5:21 left in the half after a layup by Dan Hogan. But Alvernia closed the half on a 12-4 run to take a 36-27 lead at the half.
The Dutchmen came out on fire in the second half and an 8-0 run, capped by a Byers three-pointer, tied the game at 38 with 17:32 left. The rest of the game was extremely close and featured seven ties and 13 lead changes.
Alvernia led by five (61-56) with 7:10 to go following a trey from Lamar Brickus, but Harlor and Byers each knocked down a three of their own to put LVC up 62-61 with 5:29 left.
After Strickland’s three-point play with 3:02 to go, Curran put the Valley ahead for good when he nailed a three-pointer with 1:06 remaining. On the Crusaders next possession, Mike Brock missed a three-pointer and Cornell Merricks pulled down the offensive rebound. But his put-back was blocked by Buzinski, and Hogan came up with the loose ball. Byers was then fouled, and he sunk a pair of foul shots with 29 seconds left to give LVC a 69-66 lead.
Merricks missed a potential game-tying three-pointer for Alvernia with 12 seconds left, but Strickland kept the Crusaders in the game with a rebound and layup. However, Byers hit two more free throws with seven seconds left, and Zach Straining misfired on a three-pointer with four seconds left.
Alvernia out-rebounded LVC 44-30. Lebanon Valley committed a season-low six turnovers.
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Newspaper Box Score Lebanon Valley College vs Alvernia College 3/6/04 7:00 pm at Center Valley, PA - Billera Hall At Center Valley, PA - Billera Hall LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE 71, ALVERNIA COLLEGE 68 LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE (16-12 overall) J.D. Byers 5-17 4-4 19; Evan Harlor 5-9 2-2 16; Steve Buzinski 7-10 2-2 16; Jimmy Curran 4-6 1-2 10; Dave Kasyan 2-8 0-0 4; Dan Hogan 2-4 0-0 4; Jeff Kline 1-3 0-0 2; Fred Pope 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 9-10 71. ALVERNIA COLLEGE (21-7 overall) Ray Strickland 10-19 3-5 27; Akeem Washington 5-7 3-3 13; Zach Straining 4-13 3-5 11; Cornell Merricks 2-5 2-2 7; Lamar Brickus 2-10 0-0 6; Mike Brock 1-6 0-0 2; Steve Royles 1-2 0-0 2; Alex West 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-64 11-15 68. Lebanon Valley College........ 27 44 - 71 Alvernia College.............. 36 32 - 68 3-point goals-Lebanon Valley College 10-27 (J.D. Byers 5-13; Evan Harlor 4-8; Jimmy Curran 1-2; Dave Kasyan 0-4), Alvernia College 7-26 (Ray Strickland 4-8; Lamar Brickus 2-8; Cornell Merricks 1-2; Mike Brock 0-2; Alex West 0-2; Zach Straining 0-4). Fouled out--Lebanon Valley College-None, Alvernia College-None. Rebounds-Lebanon Valley College 30 (Steve Buzinski 7), Alvernia College 44 (Akeem Washington 10). Assists-Lebanon Valley College 19 (J.D. Byers 10), Alvernia College 13 (Zach Straining 4). Total fouls-Lebanon Valley College 18, Alvernia College 13. A-350 Flying Dutchmen advance to the championship game of the ECAC South Region Tournament against DeSales University at 3:00 pm.