ANNVILLE, Pa. – Senior Evan Ward scored a season-high 18 points, but Albright dropped an 89-72 MAC Commonwealth decision to Lebanon Valley on Saturday in Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
Sam Light and Andy Orr combined to score 41 points leading the Dutchmen to their second straight victory to open conference play. Light scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor, while Orr added 20 points.
 
Lebanon Valley, which improved to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play, shot a blistering 60.4 percent from the floor for the game which included a 68.8 percent shooting effort from the three-point line. The Dutchmen finished the game 11-of-16 from the three-point line led by Light who made all three of his three-point attempts.
 
Ward notched his second straight double-figure scoring game to lead the Lions as he was 5-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He also added two rebounds and an assist.
 
Junior Calvert Gantz tied his career high with 14 points and Omari Ringgold added 11 points for Albright.
 
Albright, which dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the MAC Commonwealth, shot 46.2 percent from the floor for the game.
 
Lebanon Valley used a 12-5 run midway through the first half to take a 31-22 lead with 5:19 to play before halftime.
 
A three-point play by Brandon Lindsay cut the lead to 31-25 and baskets by Gantz and DeJuan Smith trimmed the LVC lead to 32-29 with 3:41 to play in the opening period.
 
Light scored five points as LVC stretched the lead to 41-31 before Lindsay scored at the buzzer for Albright to cut the Dutchmen lead to 41-33 at halftime.
 
Orr opened the second half with a jumper for LVC before Ward answered with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 43-35 with 19:07 to play.
 
The Dutchmen responded with a 9-0 to push the lead to 52-35 with 15:56 to play in the second half.
 
After a three-point play by Josh Marquez cut the LVC lead to 54-40, Lebanon Valley ripped off a 22-8 run to take a 76-48 lead with 7:58 remaining in the game.
 
Albright will return to the Bollman Center on Wednesday (Dec. 9) to host Franklin & Marshall at 7 p.m. in non-conference play.