Box Score

PHOENIXVILLE, PA - On Thursday night (Feb. 16), the VFCC Patriots men's basketball team defeated NCCAA II East Region rival Lancaster Bible College by a final score of 63-43.  Tonight's win gives the Patriots the top seed in the regional championship tournament, beginning next Wednesday.  Earning the top seed gives Valley Forge a bye into the regional finals game next Friday night, (Feb. 24).  With the loss, LBC will earn the second seed in the tournament and will host Philadelphia Biblical University in the first round.

The atmosphere was electric tonight in the "Pit" gymnasium thanks to the Valley Forge faithful who came out to cheer the Patriots to victory.  After the first 5:00 of play, VFCC held a slim two point margin (11-9), and for the next five minutes both teams would trade missed shots until Mike Stum dropped in the back end of his one-and-one.  The Patriots opened up an uncomfortable seven point lead, but LBC would claw back to as close as two points after a layup from Benjamin Scott.  After a Donnell Davis three-pointer and a Latrell Alford layup with :35 remaining, Valley Forge would carry a seven point lead to the break.

Immediately following the halftime break, LBC brought themselves to within one point, but the Patriots would then go on a 13-2 run, opening the game wide open with just under 13:00 to play.  LBC did their best to regain the lead, coming as close as within seven points, but Valley Forge proved too much for the Chargers as they ran away with the lead.  Alford would hit both shots after a Chargers foul with under :30 to play to grab the 20 point victory.

Both teams tonight had a tough time finding the bottom of the basket, with Valley Forge owning the slight advantage, 36.5 percent to LBC's 34.5 percent from the floor.  The Patriots also had a tough time from the charity stripe, hitting only 14 -of-24 shots from the line.  Valley Forge was able to keep LBC off the line, limiting them to just 5 attempted free throws on the night.  VFCC held the slim rebounding margin (40-36), but forced 26 Charger turnovers, including snagging 18 steals in the game.

Leading the Patriots to victory tonight was senior Michael Stum.  Stum had an outstanding performance tonight, fighting his way to a double-double, finishing with 14 points and a game high 13 rebounds.  He also recorded a game high 5 steals in just over 33:00 of play.

Senior Justin Kinsey led all scorers tonight with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Senior Latrell Alford also ended in double digit scoring, finishing with 12 points.

Donnell Davis joined Stum tonight with 5 steals of his own.

In the loss, Chargers' Darrell Epps and Madison Warfel each finished with 9 points scored, while Benjamin Scott finished with 10 rebounds.

The Patriots look to end their regular season tomorrow night (Feb. 17) with a win on Senior Night when they host the Knights of Berkeley College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM following the Lady Patriots game versus Trinity University at 6:00 PM.

Please join us tomorrow night as the VFCC Athletics Department will be honoring our senior men's basketball players preceding the tip-off.  Our 2011-2012 senior class athletes are:

Latrell Alford (Crisfield, MD, Crisfield Senior High School)

Justin Kinsey (Philadelphia, PA, International Christian High School)

Michael Stum (Manheim, PA, Manheim Central High School)