With the win, Lebanon Valley (20-6) will advance to the second round of the tournament and visit St. John Fisher (27-0), the champion of the Empire 8 Conference and the only undefeated team remaining in Division III, on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Cardinals received a first-round bye.
The win also pushed the Dutchmen’s home record to 13-0, and gave LVC its first NCAA tournament victory since its 66-59 overtime victory over New York University in the 1994 Division III national championship game. The Dutchmen had lost their last three NCAA tournament games.
Lebanon Valley, competing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999, shot a season-high 88.9% (24-of-27) at the foul line and held the Lions to 32.1% shooting in the second half (38.3% for the game).
Penn State Behrend (19-8) received 11 points from senior guard Tom Lulich and freshman center Kevin Buczynski.
Lebanon Valley led 29-22 at halftime, but the Lions trimmed the deficit to four (31-26) with 17:19 to go following a pair of free throws from senior forward Jared Clough. But that’s when Byers turned it on.
Byers connected on an NBA-range three-pointer from the right side of the arc to give the Dutchmen a 34-27 lead, and a lay-up from sophomore forward Billy Orr made it a nine-point game with 16:10 left. Byers converted a lay-up of his own with 15:35 on the clock, and his straightaway three-pointer from well beyond NBA distance 22 seconds later pushed the Dutchmen’s lead to 14 (41-27), prompting a Penn State Behrend timeout.
The Lions shaved the lead to 11 (42-31) with 13:12 left after a Buczynski lay-up, but that’s as close as the Lions would get. Lebanon Valley put the game out of reach by scoring the next eight points, with all of them coming at the foul line, to put the Dutchmen on top 50-31 with 9:43 to go. Byers was 6-for-6 at the line during the stretch and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe for the game.
The Lions were unable to pull to within less than 14 the rest of the way.
Penn State Behrend led three times over the game’s opening four minutes, but Byers’ first three-pointer of the night gave the Dutchmen the lead (9-6) for good. An 8-0 LVC run late in the half gave the Valley an eight-point advantage (22-14) with 4:53 on the clock. The Lions had it down to five (27-22) after a three-pointer from senior guard Joe Lucas with 45 seconds to go before sophomore guard Hunter Bretschneider, playing for the first time in the last eight games after suffering a broken finger on his non-shooting hand, converted a driving lay-up 25 seconds before the half to make it 29-22.
Byers shot 9-for-16 and was 5-for-9 from three-point range. He also had five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Jimmy Curran added 14 points and shot 7-for-9 at the line, while senior center Brad Stigelman posted 10 points and five rebounds and made all six of his free throws. Senior forward Steve Buzinski added six points and five rebounds.
Lebanon Valley had an assist on 18 of its 20 field goals.
Lucas finished with 10 points for Penn State Behrend while Clough had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.
The Dutchmen shot 46.5% for the game and 41.2% (7-for-17) from three-point range. The Lions were just 31.6% (6-for-19) from beyond the arc and 61.1% (11-for-18) at the foul line.
Newspaper Box Score Penn State Behrend vs Lebanon Valley 3/3/05 7:00 pm at Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium At Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium LEBANON VALLEY 71, PENN STATE BEHREND 53 PENN STATE BEHREND (19-8) Buczynski Kevin 3-6 5-6 11; Lulich Tom 4-9 0-0 11; Lucas Joe 4-9 0-0 10; Clough Jared 2-7 4-4 8; Gahan David 2-7 2-2 6; Jennings Justin 1-2 0-0 3; Ferguson J.J. 1-3 0-0 2; Mascara Cam 1-2 0-2 2; Merski Doug 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 18-47 11-18 53. LEBANON VALLEY (20-6) J.D. Byers 9-16 8-8 31; Jimmy Curran 3-7 7-9 14; Brad Stigelman 2-3 6-6 10; Steve Buzinski 3-6 0-0 6; Matt Polinsky 1-2 0-0 3; Billy Orr 1-1 1-2 3; Hunter Bretschneider 1-2 0-0 2; Fred Pope 0-1 2-2 2; Dan Hogan 0-2 0-0 0; Travis Witmeyer 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 24-27 71. Penn State Behrend............ 22 31 - 53 Lebanon Valley................ 29 42 - 71 3-point goals-Penn State Behrend 6-19 (Lulich Tom 3-7; Lucas Joe 2-6; Jennings Justin 1-1; Ferguson J.J. 0-2; Mascara Cam 0-1; Merski Doug 0-2), Lebanon Valley 7-17 (J.D. Byers 5-9; Matt Polinsky 1-1; Jimmy Curran 1-4; Hunter Bretschneider 0-1; Travis Witmeyer 0-2). Fouled out--Penn State Behrend-None, Lebanon Valley-None. Rebounds-Penn State Behrend 26 (Clough Jared 7), Lebanon Valley 29 (J.D. Byers 5; Brad Stigelman 5; Steve Buzinski 5). Assists-Penn State Behrend 5 (Clough Jared 3), Lebanon Valley 18 (J.D. Byers 4). Total fouls-Penn State Behrend 23, Lebanon Valley 20. A-1332 NCAA First Round Lebanon Valley advances to second round of NCAA Tournament, will play at St. John Fisher at 7:00 Saturday evening