With the win, the team’s fifth in a row, LVC (18-5, 10-4 CC) finishes second in the Commonwealth Conference and earns the two seed in the Commonwealth playoffs. The Dutchmen will host three seed Messiah at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the LVC Gymnasium. It will mark the men’s basketball team’s first home MAC or Commonwealth playoff game since the Dutchmen hosted the 1999 MAC championship.
Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran led the Valley with a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting while senior guard J.D. Byers notched 11 points to go with five assists. Senior center Brad Stigelman added 10 points and three blocks while junior forward Dan Hogan contributed nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore forward Billy Orr added nine points in 18 minutes off the bench.
Sophomore guard Nick Hager and junior forward Travis Boyd paced Juniata (9-16, 4-10 CC) with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Lebanon Valley’s victory also snapped a three-game losing streak against Juniata. The Dutchmen had not defeated the Eagles since their 60-58 win at Juniata on Feb. 18, 2003.
LVC is now 11-0 at home this season.
The Eagles shot just 15.0% (3-for-20) from three-point range and 50.0% (10-for-20) at the foul line. Lebanon Valley shot 41.7% despite going just 18.2% (2-for-11) from beyond the arc. LVC was 69.0% (20-for-29) at the free-throw line.
Despite missing its first seven field goal attempts, Lebanon Valley trailed just 12-9 with 8:39 left in the opening period. Then the Dutchmen ran off a 9-2 run to seize the lead for good.
A 5-0 LVC spurt late in the half put the Valley up nine (25-16) with 1:43 left, and a Curran three-pointer with 39 seconds to go gave LVC a 28-18 halftime advantage.
Lebanon Valley held the Eagles to 18.8% (6-of-32) shooting in the opening period.
A Tommy McConnell bucket 46 seconds into the second half pulled Juniata to within eight, but that would mark Lebanon Valley’s final single-digit lead of the afternoon. The Dutchmen reeled off a 15-6 run to assume a 17-point lead (43-26) with 14:23 left in the game.
Juniata pulled to within 10 (52-42) following a Nick Hager lay-up with 5:22 remaining. But Lebanon Valley scored the next 10 points, capped by a pair of Stigelman free throws, to go up 20 and put the game out of reach.
Newspaper Box Score Juniata vs Lebanon Valley 2/19/05 1:00 pm at Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium At Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium LEBANON VALLEY 62, JUNIATA 47 JUNIATA (9-16, 4-10 CC) Nick Hager 5-13 0-0 12; Travis Boyd 4-10 2-2 11; Brian Cannon 2-6 1-2 5; Tommy McConnell 1-5 2-2 4; Kyle Opitz 2-2 0-0 4; Jeff Byer 1-4 1-2 3; Chris Jasiota 0-6 2-2 2; Brent Ferko 1-2 0-0 2; Aaron Chamberlain 1-4 0-2 2; Neil Holloway 0-4 1-6 1; Nick Littleton 0-1 0-0 0; Steve Holencik 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 17-60 10-20 47. LEBANON VALLEY (18-5, 10-4 CC) Jimmy Curran 6-9 0-0 14; J.D. Byers 2-11 7-8 11; Brad Stigelman 2-3 6-6 10; Billy Orr 4-5 1-2 9; Dan Hogan 3-5 3-7 9; Steve Buzinski 2-7 3-4 7; Matt Polinsky 1-2 0-0 2; Brian Wolensky 0-1 0-0 0; Travis Witmeyer 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 20-29 62. Juniata....................... 18 29 - 47 Lebanon Valley................ 28 34 - 62 3-point goals-Juniata 3-20 (Nick Hager 2-6; Travis Boyd 1-6; Tommy McConnell 0-3; Brent Ferko 0-1; Aaron Chamberlain 0-3; Brian Cannon 0-1), Lebanon Valley 2-11 (Jimmy Curran 2-4; J.D. Byers 0-5; Matt Polinsky 0-1; Travis Witmeyer 0-1). Fouled out--Juniata-None, Lebanon Valley-Brad Stigelman. Rebounds-Juniata 37 (Neil Holloway 7), Lebanon Valley 41 (Dan Hogan 11). Assists-Juniata 10 (Jeff Byer 3), Lebanon Valley 13 (J.D. Byers 5). Total fouls-Juniata 21, Lebanon Valley 15. A-1582