Every so often we are reminded that basketball really is just a game. We are reminded that winning doesn’t mean the world to a team and that losing doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

Liz Borgia, who plays for the Lebanon Valley women’s basketball team, will attest to that. The adversity and pain she has dealt with in her life recently goes well beyond what a scoreboard reads or what the numbers stay in a box score.

The junior forward lost her mom to breast cancer a little over a year ago. So imagine being in her shoes. Imagine trying to focus on playing college basketball while still going to school and while still trying to keep your life as normal as possible.

It’s not easy.

"Losing her was something I never thought about during her battle with cancer. When it happened last year, it seemed so unreal,” Borgia said. “Losing her was like losing one of my best friends. However, to deal with it, I just kept moving forward. "I leaned on all of my family and friends to get through such a difficult time. Having the overwhelming support that I was given was the thing that helped me most, and it is what still helps me make it through each day.”

Borgia described her mom as the epitome of true beauty. She said her mom lived each day with a positive outlook and supported her on and off the court. Borgia went into a little detail about some of the other things that made her mom so special.

“Her qualities of strength, determination, courage, hope and love are things that I remember most about my mom,” Borgia said. “Out of all of these qualities, her inner strength is the one that distinctly stands out to me. It is this quality about her that inspires me to keep moving forward and pursuing all of my dreams in life.”

On Wednesday night, Borgia and her teammates will have a chance to do something special in the fight against breast cancer. Lebanon Valley will play against Elizabethtown in its Pink Game, a game that has grown in popularity at Lebanon Valley during its five-year run.

A year ago, a record crowd of 1,560 filled the LVC Gymnasium. More than $4,000 was raised at the game, pushing the total raised over the past four years past $10,000. All of the money benefits the American Cancer Society of Lebanon. This year, part of the money raised will go to the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute.

Much of the money is raised by auctioning off the pink jerseys the team wears for the game. The bidding starts at $75 per jersey and there is no limit to the number of times a person can place a bid. Bids will be accepted until noon on game day, and then up until 15 minutes after the game ends.

Admission to the game is free, although donations will be accepted at the door. Raffle tickets will also be sold for a chance to win prizes.

Lebanon Valley goes into the game at 19-2 overall and ranked 17th in the nation.

“The atmosphere is great and the night itself is so much more than a basketball game to me,” Borgia said. “I see the evening as two great battles that our team is trying to win: working to get a victory over a tough opponent in Elizabethtown and fighting breast cancer at the same time.”

Lebanon Valley head coach Todd Goclowski said the game really puts things into perspective.

“Our team talks a lot about appreciating our friends and family, being thankful and seeing the world beyond our own needs and desires,” Goclowski said. “The Pink Game presents a special opportunity to emphasize how much we should all appreciate the gifts we do have and to value the love, trust and friendship of the people in our lives.”

Goclowski said the entire team took the loss of Borgia’s mom hard, which adds to the importance of the Pink Game to the team.

“Our team is a family, so we all feel Liz’s loss and carry Theresa’s spirit with us,” Goclowski said. “It is a profound loss, but one that each young woman on our team will carry forward in a positive way to affect change in the fight against breast cancer.”

As for the season, Borgia is having a blast. She loves being a part of a winning team, but more importantly, she loves the experience she has enjoying this ride with her teammates.

“I love playing the game and I love being a part of the team,” Borgia said. “The things I have experienced through my basketball career have helped me not only grow as a player, but as a person, too. Some of my greatest memories at LVC are with my teammates and coaches. They are more than teammates to me. They are like a family.”

And that family has been with Borgia through the good times and the bad.

Noteworthy

Dickinson wasn’t fazed by playing in one of the toughest venues in the Centennial Conference. The Devils went over to Washington College on Saturday and earned a huge79-74 victory that catapults them into second place in the league standings.

Thomas McInerney started his third consecutive game and poured in 11 points to help the Devils hold off the Shoremen, who trailed 20-9 early but battled back to keep the game close. McInerney also grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists and tallied two steals.

Gary Wixted led the Devils with 25 points and 13 rebounds. He made all 11 of his shots from the free-throw line.

Kevin Breslin scored 22 points to lead Washington.

Dickinson has been on a roll since falling 65-62 to Franklin and Marshall. The Devils have won five consecutive games and are 12-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference.

Kean still unbeaten in league play: Kean’s women are 11-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference after a 71-50 win over Rutgers-Camden on Saturday. Naimah Clemons, who has been a star for the Cougars all season, turned in another stellar performance. She poured in 35 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Kean dominated the Scarlet Raptors on the road.

Clemons, who was the only player in double figures for Kean, also got the job on defense in the win. She racked up seven steals on a day when the Cougars limited the Scarlet Raptors to 28.3 percent shooting. Kean forced 24 turnovers but did turn the ball over 23 times.

Kean, which is 20-3 overall and No. 20 in the country, has won its last five games and Danielle McFadden continues to play a role in the success. She pulled down 15 rebounds to go along with six points. The Cougars shot 42.2 percent from the floor in the victory.

Brittany Turner scored 16 points to lead Rutgers-Camden, which fell to 13-9 overall and to 2-8 in the conference.

Smith delivers in crunch time: Brian Smith of Widener had no problem rising to the occasion against first-place Messiah in a MAC Commonwealth game on Saturday.

Smith hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 46 seconds to go in regulation and then drilled a game-winning trey with 18 seconds to play as the Pride knocked off the Falcons 69-64.

Smith scored nine points in the overtime period and finished with 18 points on the day. He also grabbed nine rebounds. He highlighted his offensive performance with four treys, including two in the extra session as Widener improved to 13-9 overall and to 15-6 overall and to 6-4 in the conference.

Messiah dropped to 14-6 overall and to 8-2 in the league.

Every so often we are reminded that basketball really is just a game. We are reminded that winning doesn’t mean the world to a team and that losing doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.

Liz Borgia, who plays for the Lebanon Valley women’s basketball team, will attest to that. The adversity and pain she has dealt with in her life recently goes well beyond what a scoreboard reads or what the numbers stay in a box score.

The junior forward lost her mom to breast cancer a little over a year ago. So imagine being in her shoes. Imagine trying to focus on playing college basketball while still going to school and while still trying to keep your life as normal as possible.

It’s not easy.

"Losing her was something I never thought about during her battle with cancer. When it happened last year, it seemed so unreal,” Borgia said. “Losing her was like losing one of my best friends. However, to deal with it, I just kept moving forward. "I leaned on all of my family and friends to get through such a difficult time. Having the overwhelming support that I was given was the thing that helped me most, and it is what still helps me make it through each day.”

Borgia described her mom as the epitome of true beauty. She said her mom lived each day with a positive outlook and supported her on and off the court. Borgia went into a little detail about some of the other things that made her mom so special.

“Her qualities of strength, determination, courage, hope and love are things that I remember most about my mom,” Borgia said. “Out of all of these qualities, her inner strength is the one that distinctly stands out to me. It is this quality about her that inspires me to keep moving forward and pursuing all of my dreams in life.”

On Wednesday night, Borgia and her teammates will have a chance to do something special in the fight against breast cancer. Lebanon Valley will play against Elizabethtown in its Pink Game, a game that has grown in popularity at Lebanon Valley during its five-year run.

A year ago, a record crowd of 1,560 filled the LVC Gymnasium. More than $4,000 was raised at the game, pushing the total raised over the past four years past $10,000. All of the money benefits the American Cancer Society of Lebanon. This year, part of the money raised will go to the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute.

Much of the money is raised by auctioning off the pink jerseys the team wears for the game. The bidding starts at $75 per jersey and there is no limit to the number of times a person can place a bid. Bids will be accepted until noon on game day, and then up until 15 minutes after the game ends.

Admission to the game is free, although donations will be accepted at the door. Raffle tickets will also be sold for a chance to win prizes.

Lebanon Valley goes into the game at 19-2 overall and ranked 17th in the nation.

“The atmosphere is great and the night itself is so much more than a basketball game to me,” Borgia said. “I see the evening as two great battles that our team is trying to win: working to get a victory over a tough opponent in Elizabethtown and fighting breast cancer at the same time.”

Lebanon Valley head coach Todd Goclowski said the game really puts things into perspective.

“Our team talks a lot about appreciating our friends and family, being thankful and seeing the world beyond our own needs and desires,” Goclowski said. “The Pink Game presents a special opportunity to emphasize how much we should all appreciate the gifts we do have and to value the love, trust and friendship of the people in our lives.”

Goclowski said the entire team took the loss of Borgia’s mom hard, which adds to the importance of the Pink Game to the team.

“Our team is a family, so we all feel Liz’s loss and carry Theresa’s spirit with us,” Goclowski said. “It is a profound loss, but one that each young woman on our team will carry forward in a positive way to affect change in the fight against breast cancer.”

As for the season, Borgia is having a blast. She loves being a part of a winning team, but more importantly, she loves the experience she has enjoying this ride with her teammates.

“I love playing the game and I love being a part of the team,” Borgia said. “The things I have experienced through my basketball career have helped me not only grow as a player, but as a person, too. Some of my greatest memories at LVC are with my teammates and coaches. They are more than teammates to me. They are like a family.”

And that family has been with Borgia through the good times and the bad.

Noteworthy

Dickinson wasn’t fazed by playing in one of the toughest venues in the Centennial Conference. The Devils went over to Washington College on Saturday and earned a huge79-74 victory that catapults them into second place in the league standings.

Thomas McInerney started his third consecutive game and poured in 11 points to help the Devils hold off the Shoremen, who trailed 20-9 early but battled back to keep the game close. McInerney also grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists and tallied two steals.

Gary Wixted led the Devils with 25 points and 13 rebounds. He made all 11 of his shots from the free-throw line.

Kevin Breslin scored 22 points to lead Washington.

Dickinson has been on a roll since falling 65-62 to Franklin and Marshall. The Devils have won five consecutive games and are 12-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference.

Kean still unbeaten in league play: Kean’s women are 11-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference after a 71-50 win over Rutgers-Camden on Saturday. Naimah Clemons, who has been a star for the Cougars all season, turned in another stellar performance. She poured in 35 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as Kean dominated the Scarlet Raptors on the road.

Clemons, who was the only player in double figures for Kean, also got the job on defense in the win. She racked up seven steals on a day when the Cougars limited the Scarlet Raptors to 28.3 percent shooting. Kean forced 24 turnovers but did turn the ball over 23 times.

Kean, which is 20-3 overall and No. 20 in the country, has won its last five games and Danielle McFadden continues to play a role in the success. She pulled down 15 rebounds to go along with six points. The Cougars shot 42.2 percent from the floor in the victory.

Brittany Turner scored 16 points to lead Rutgers-Camden, which fell to 13-9 overall and to 2-8 in the conference.

Smith delivers in crunch time: Brian Smith of Widener had no problem rising to the occasion against first-place Messiah in a MAC Commonwealth game on Saturday.

Smith hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 46 seconds to go in regulation and then drilled a game-winning trey with 18 seconds to play as the Pride knocked off the Falcons 69-64.

Smith scored nine points in the overtime period and finished with 18 points on the day. He also grabbed nine rebounds. He highlighted his offensive performance with four treys, including two in the extra session as Widener improved to 13-9 overall and to 15-6 overall and to 6-4 in the conference.

Messiah dropped to 14-6 overall and to 8-2 in the league.

Rob McPherson helped the Pride pull off the surprising win. He scored 13 points while Perry Wright dropped in 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Pride won its fourth consecutive game.

Quick Hits: The nationally ranked Cabrini men’s basketball team got all it could handle from Marywood on Saturday afternoon. In the end, though, the No. 7 Cavaliers held off Marywood 76-73. The win avenged the 57-55 loss it suffered at Insalaco Arena last season. Cabrini tallied 12 assists on its 15 second-half field goals and Cory Williams nearly had a triple-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists. ... Alex Vassila has a way of taking over a game for the Johns Hopkins women’s basketball team. In a 71-42 win over Swarthmore on Saturday, Vasilla scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for her sixth-double of the season. She also blocked six blocks, which ties a career-high, as she helped the Blue Jays clinch a conference tournament berth. ... SUNY-Old Westbury has been in the hunt for a Skyline Conference women’s basketball crown because of its nine-game win streak. The streak ended Saturday in a 65-49 road loss to Mount Saint Mary on Saturday. Jen Mocanu scored 20 points to pace Mount Saint Mary, which scored 17 second-chance points and scored 26 points off of 23 turnovers. … The Franklin and Marshall men’s basketball team was stunned by Muhlenberg on Saturday in a Centennial Conference encounter. The Diplomats, who went into the game ranked No. 8 in the country, lost 60-58 as Muhlenberg hit three free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the deal. Georgio Milligan scored 15 points for the Diplomats while Spencer Liddic dropped in 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Mules.

Get in Touch

Feel free to contact me about a story idea or share your thoughts on Division III college basketball. I enjoy interacting with the fans. You can reach me by email at brian.lester@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter @Blester1993.

Rob McPherson helped the Pride pull off the surprising win. He scored 13 points while Perry Wright dropped in 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as the Pride won its fourth consecutive game.

Quick Hits: The nationally ranked Cabrini men’s basketball team got all it could handle from Marywood on Saturday afternoon. In the end, though, the No. 7 Cavaliers held off Marywood 76-73. The win avenged the 57-55 loss it suffered at Insalaco Arena last season. Cabrini tallied 12 assists on its 15 second-half field goals and Cory Williams nearly had a triple-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists. ... Alex Vassila has a way of taking over a game for the Johns Hopkins women’s basketball team. In a 71-42 win over Swarthmore on Saturday, Vasilla scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for her sixth-double of the season. She also blocked six blocks, which ties a career-high, as she helped the Blue Jays clinch a conference tournament berth. ... SUNY-Old Westbury has been in the hunt for a Skyline Conference women’s basketball crown because of its nine-game win streak. The streak ended Saturday in a 65-49 road loss to Mount Saint Mary on Saturday. Jen Mocanu scored 20 points to pace Mount Saint Mary, which scored 17 second-chance points and scored 26 points off of 23 turnovers. … The Franklin and Marshall men’s basketball team was stunned by Muhlenberg on Saturday in a Centennial Conference encounter. The Diplomats, who went into the game ranked No. 8 in the country, lost 60-58 as Muhlenberg hit three free throws in the final 12 seconds to seal the deal. Georgio Milligan scored 15 points for the Diplomats while Spencer Liddic dropped in 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Mules.

Get in Touch

Feel free to contact me about a story idea or share your thoughts on Division III college basketball. I enjoy interacting with the fans. You can reach me by email at brian.lester@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter @Blester1993.