Lebanon Valley (10-1) has now won the Marquette championship in each of the last four years and 10 times altogether. The Flying Dutchmen have also won their last nine games, the team’s longest winning streak since the 1998-99 season.
After a New Jersey City missed three-pointer, the Flying Dutchmen received the ball with about five seconds difference between the shot clock and game clock. Byers attempted a shot from the left elbow just before the shot clock expired, and the rebound was swatted out of the air and into the hands of sophomore guard Hunter Bretchneider. Bretchneider passed the ball to senior forward Steve Buzinski at the top of the three-point arc, and he zipped a pass to Byers waiting in the left wing. Byers took one dribble to his left before launching the game-winner.
After finishing the tournament with 47 points, including 18 in the championship game and 29 in the team’s first-round win over Chestnut Hill, Byers was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row. Last season, his two free throws with 4.8 seconds left gave Lebanon Valley a 71-70 win over Rutgers-Newark in the championship game.
Junior guard Mark Washington paced New Jersey City (8-6) with 26 points and 14 rebounds, both game-highs, and was named to the all-tournament team.
Although LVC enjoyed a big lead in the first half, neither team led by more than five points over the game’s final 24:10. The extremely tight contest featured nine ties and 18 lead changes.
Lebanon Valley led by as much as 16 late in the first half but the Gothic Knights closed the final 4:47 of the period on a 17-7 run to the cut the gap to seven (37-30) at the half. New Jersey City then outscored the Dutchmen 14-7 over the opening 4:34 of the second stanza to completely erase the deficit.
The Gothic Knights led by three with 6:25 left before the Dutchmen pulled ahead by five (65-60) with 3:11 to go following a pair of Buzinski free throws. However, New Jersey City came right back with seven straight points, capped by a conventional three-point play from Washington that made it 67-65 in favor the Knights with 1:09 to go.
The rest of regulation was largely decided at the foul line. Byers hit a pair of free throws with 1:07 left, and on the Knights’ ensuing possession he was fouled again after collecting one of his career-high nine rebounds. New Jersey City’s bench was then whistled for a technical foul, and with LVC already in the double bonus, Byers headed to the line for four shots with 35 ticks on the clock. He made his first two to make it 69-67, but missed the second two, setting up a wild finish.
New Jersey City’s Javier Rodriguez went to the line for a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left, but he missed both shots. However, Washington came up with the offensive rebound, and sophomore forward Devin Davis earned a trip to the charity stripe with 16 seconds remaining. After Davis sunk both free throws LVC had a chance to win the game when Buzinski was fouled driving to the bucket with with five seconds to go. But both of his shots were off the mark. New Jersey City pulled down the rebound and was able to push the ball to its three-point line, but was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer.
In overtime, junior forward Dan Hogan pulled the Dutchmen even (71-71) after hitting a pair of free throws with 4:05 on the clock. With 2:51 to go, Bretschneider gave the Valley a 73-71 lead when he put back his own missed shot, but Davis converted a put-back of his own to tie the game at 73.
The Gothic Knights missed three straight three pointers inside the final 1:32.
Five Dutchmen reached double figures in scoring for the game. Buzinski finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and three blocked shots while Bretschneider had a career-high 14 points to go with six rebounds. Hogan, who was named to the all-tournament team, posted 12 points and sophomore forward Billy Orr added a career-high 10 points. Senior center Brad Stigelman yanked down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Rob Freeney added 12 points for New Jersey City and joined Hogan on the all-tournament team, which was rounded out by Isaac Greer of Chestnut Hill and Chris Hendershot of FDU-Florham.
Lebanon Valley finished the game 20-for-31 at the foul line while New Jersey City was just 7-for-15. The Dutchmen shot 49.0% from the field for the game while holding the Gothic Knights to 36.8% shooting.
With the win, the Dutchmen improved to 6-0 at home this season.
FDU-Florham defeated Chestnut Hill 96-76 in the consolation game. Greer set a young gym record with 43 points while Hendershot had 28 points.
The last four men’s Rinso Marquette Invitational championship games have been decided by a combined total of 11 points. Two of the last three needed overtime to decide a winner.
New Jersey City vs Lebanon Valley 1/9/05 3:00 pm at Annville, Pa. (LVC Gymnasium) At Annville, Pa. (LVC Gymnasium) LEBANON VALLEY 75, NEW JERSEY CITY 73 NEW JERSEY CITY (8-6) Mark Washington 11-28 1-1 26; Rob Freeney 4-9 0-0 12; Javier Rodriguez 3-7 0-2 7; Christopher Kates 2-5 2-2 6; Devin Davis 2-5 2-2 6; Antoinne Morgano 2-5 1-4 5; Luis DaSilva 1-3 0-0 3; James Kaiser 1-4 1-4 3; Charles Coles 1-8 0-0 3; Ben Balcom 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-76 7-15 73. LEBANON VALLEY (10-1) J.D. Byers 5-19 7-12 18; Hunter Bretschneider 5-9 1-1 14; Steve Buzinski 4-4 6-11 14; Dan Hogan 5-8 2-3 12; Billy Orr 3-4 4-4 10; Brad Stigelman 2-6 0-0 4; Matt Polinsky 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-51 20-31 75. New Jersey City............... 31 38 4 - 73 Lebanon Valley................ 37 32 6 - 75 3-point goals-New Jersey City 10-32 (Rob Freeney 4-6; Mark Washington 3-14; Charles Coles 1-6; Javier Rodriguez 1-3; Luis DaSilva 1-2; Ben Balcom 0-1), Lebanon Valley 5-11 (Hunter Bretschneider 3-4; Matt Polinsky 1-1; J.D. Byers 1-6). Fouled out--New Jersey City-Rob Freeney, Lebanon Valley-None. Rebounds-New Jersey City 42 (Mark Washington 14), Lebanon Valley 43 (Brad Stigelman 10). Assists-New Jersey City 14 (Mark Washington 4), Lebanon Valley 12 (J.D. Byers 4). Total fouls-New Jersey City 24, Lebanon Valley 14. A-636 Lebanon Valley wins fourth straight Rinso Marquette Invitational All-Tournament Team: Isaac Greer (Chestnut Hill), Chris Hendershot (FDU-Florham), Mark Washington (New Jersey City), Rob Freeney (New Jersey City), Dan Hogan (Lebanon Valley). MVP - J.D. Byers (Lebanon Valley)