Former LVC men’s basketball star Sam Light ’18 is pursuing a dream of playing professional basketball after recently signing with Araberri of the Spanish professional league LEB Oro, one of the top pro leagues in the world. In a recent Lebanon Daily News article by Pat Huggins, Light thanked fellow grad Andy Panko ’99 for assistance and mentorship. Panko has played professionally throughout the world for two decades.

George Petrie ’72 retired in June after coaching at Gettysburg College for 45 years, including 29 years as head coach of men’s basketball, compiling 394 wins. He also was head coach of men’s golf for 24 years, winning three Centennial Conference titles.

The men’s basketball program hosted its second Make-A-Wish Game Feb. 3 and Fox 43 ran a story on the event last night. Wish Child Aramya Riley from Steelton was honored during pregame ceremonies, with team captains and cheerleaders presenting her with a one-of-a-kind LVC team jersey. Senior guard Collin Moore, from Magnolia, Del., made the announcement that Aramya’s Make-A-Wish trip to Disney was granted.

Men’s basketball defeated nationally ranked Lycoming College (#20) for the second time this season, with this victory securing a guaranteed Middle Atlantic Conference playoff spot. The post-game story, written by Tom Klemick, LVC director of athletic communications, was D3 Hoops Online’s story of the day. In the win, Andy Orr ’18 had a game-high 31 points and Sam Light ’18 became only the College’s third ever hoops player to surpass 2,000 career points (2,003). He only trails Mike Rhoades ’95, current head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University (2,515) and Andy Panko ’99, long-time professional basketball player and Consensus Division III National Player of the Year in 1995.

Men’s basketball player Andy Orr ’18, a business administration major and accounting minor from Wernersville, Pa., is on pace to be among the program’s all-time top five in points, rebounds, and blocked shots. With a minimum of two games remaining, Orr, currently seventh on the all-time scoring list with 1,865 career points, needs 72 points to enter the top five.

Sam Light ’18, a senior business administration major from Jonestown, Pa., is just 13 points away from becoming just the third player in LVC basketball history—men and women—to score 2,000 career points. The team has two regular season games remaining at the minimum. As it stands, Light the College’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,987 career points.

The LVC men’s basketball team, under the leadership of Brad McAlester, head coach, defeated the number six team in the nation and also defeated a team just outside the top 25, leading to the Dutchmen being named National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III Team of the Week. Individually, guard Sam Light ’18 was named the Division III Men’s National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and forward Andy Orr’s ’18 thunderous dunk was named Middle Atlantic Conference Play of the Week.

Mike Rhoades ’95, head men’s basketball coach at NCAA Division I Virginia Commonwealth University, was interviewed regarding his 20-year relationship with Nathan Davis, head men’s basketball coach at Bucknell University. The duo began their coaching careers as assistants under Hal Nunnally, then-head coach of Randolph-Macon University.

LVC had a successful opening night on the hard court with the men defeating Cairn University 83–68 and the women handling Misericordia University 64–59. The men were led by 41 points from Sam Light ’18, 14 from Will Boccanfuso, and a double-double by Andy Orr (19 points, 17 rebounds). The women had three players in double digits—Emily Mealy ’21 (17), Becky Evans ’18 (15), and Caroline Scarff ’20 (14)—and Anne Lehr ’19 added 10 assists, the second-highest in program history. In addition to being the game’s high scorer for both teams, Mealy made it a double-double with 10 rebounds in her collegiate debut.

Dan Pfeil ’00, business administration, was featured in the Pottsville Republican Herald after being inducted into the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame Homecoming Weekend. Pfeil is men’s basketball all-time leader in blocked shots (185) and third on the program’s all-time rebound list (778), among other accomplishments.