Lebanon Valley (6-7) rallied from a 12-point deficit to earn its first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 5 Franklin & Marshall on Dec. 11 of last season.
With the game tied 80-80, junior guard Jimmy Curran took an inbounds pass and drove the right baseline before dropping in a lay-up with five seconds remaining. Curran was fouled on the shot, but he missed the free throw and Lincoln’s Thomas Hickson grabbed the rebound. After a timeout, the Lions got the ball to the leading scorer in Division III, guard Kyle Myrick, who drove to the top of the three-point arc. But he bobbled the ball as he attempted a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer.
Lincoln (14-4), which saw its six-game winning streak snapped, received a game-high 24 points from Myrick. He also led all players with eight assists and five steals.
McAlester, who is in his 12th season at Lebanon Valley, is the all-time winningest coach in program history. The win puts his career record at 200-113.
Senior forward Dan Hogan, who finished with seven points and 10 rebounds, was Lebanon Valley’s representative on the all-tournament team. He also had 12 points and four rebounds in the team’s loss to York on Friday evening.
The Dutchmen trailed 64-52 with 10:13 left before Hodge nearly single-handedly brought his team back to life. His three-pointer with 9:53 to go kicked off a 16-4 LVC run in which he nailed four treys and scored all but four points. Hodge capped off the surge with back-to-back threes 20 seconds apart, tying the game (68-68) with 6:34 left.
The Lions responded with a 6-2 spurt to assume a 74-70 lead with 4:22 on the clock. It was 77-73 in favor of Lincoln before a three-pointer from junior forward Dave Kasyan and a pair of Curran free throws with 2:47 to go put the Dutchmen ahead 78-77, the team’s first lead since the 1:11 mark of the first half.
Myrick put back his own missed shot with 2:29 left to give the Lions their final lead (79-78) of the game before freshman guard Kyle Enoch nailed a jumper with 1:57 to go. Darryl White made the second of two free throws with 1:23 left to tie it at 80.
The Dutchmen had the chance to take the lead with 56 seconds left, but Hodge missed a pair of foul shots. Junior guard Hunter Bretschneider helped preserve the tie when he got a finger on a three-point attempt from Sami Wylie, and Kasyan came down with the rebound with 26 seconds left. Curran then had a lay-up blocked as Lebanon Valley worked for the final shot, but the ball ricocheted out of bounds under the basket and LVC was awarded possession, setting up Curran’s game-winner.
The Dutchmen led for most of the first half. A 14-5 LVC run midway through the opening stanza gave the Valley a nine-point lead (19-10), the team’s largest advantage of the game, following a Curran three-pointer with 12:32 left.
Lincoln climbed back into it with a 7-2 run, capped by a Myrick lay-up that made it 25-21 with 8:45 remaining in the period. The Lions came all the way back to take the lead, their first since it was 3-2, when Tyreek Byard banked in a put-back with 3:10 to go. The lead then changed with each of the final six field goals of the half, and Lincoln took a 38-36 halftime lead following a Bryant Leach three-pointer with 55 seconds left.
Hodge, whose season-high scoring total entering the game was 11, shot 7-for-10 for the game and was a blistering 5-for-7 from three-point range. Curran finished with 15 points and six assists while Kasyan had 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Bretschneider contributed 12 points while Enoch posted eight points and seven rebounds.
Wylie connected on five treys and finished with 18 points for Lincoln while Byard poured in 12 points. White had 11 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks.
Lincoln vs Lebanon Valley 1/7/06 1:00 pm at Charles Wolf Gym - York, PA LEBANON VALLEY 82, LINCOLN 80 LINCOLN (14-4) Kyle Myrick 11-26 2-2 24; Sami Wylie 6-15 1-2 18; Tyreek Byard 6-12 0-0 12; Darryl White 4-10 3-6 11; Bryant Leach 3-10 1-2 9; Thomas Hickson 1-2 1-2 3; Maurice Wood 1-1 1-2 3; Anthony Morrison 0-2 0-0 0; Vincent Carter-Bey 0-1 0-0 0; Gerard Corinealdi 0-1 0-0 0; Troy London 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-81 9-16 80. LEBANON VALLEY (6-7) Dan Hodge 7-10 1-4 20; Jimmy Curran 5-13 4-5 15; Dave Kasyan 6-15 1-1 14; H. Bretschneider 5-11 0-0 12; Kyle Enoch 4-8 0-0 8; Dan Hogan 3-6 1-2 7; Eric Humphrey 2-3 0-0 4; Luke Foster 1-1 0-0 2; Peter Ruth 0-1 0-0 0; Dustin Kerns 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-69 7-12 82. Lincoln....................... 38 42 - 80 Lebanon Valley................ 36 46 - 82 3-point goals-Lincoln 7-24 (Sami Wylie 5-11; Bryant Leach 2-7; Anthony Morrison 0-2; Gerard Corinealdi 0-1; Troy London 0-1; Kyle Myrick 0-2), Lebanon Valley 9-22 (Dan Hodge 5-7; H. Bretschneider 2-5; Dave Kasyan 1-3; Jimmy Curran 1-3; Eric Humphrey 0-1; Kyle Enoch 0-3). Fouled out--Lincoln-Darryl White, Lebanon Valley-None. Rebounds-Lincoln 49 (Darryl White 12), Lebanon Valley 41 (Dan Hogan 10). Assists-Lincoln 16 (Kyle Myrick 8), Lebanon Valley 20 (Jimmy Curran 6). Total fouls-Lincoln 15, Lebanon Valley 11. A-215 SIXTH ANNUAL COACHES VS. CANCER CLASSIC Lebanon Valley head coach Brad McAlester posts his 200th career victory over the #21 Lincoln Lions. LVC hosts Moravian on January 11 while Lincoln hosts Newport News Apprentice on January 11.