CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — The Movies on Main theater in Clarion hosted approximately 100 people for a screening of a new feature-length documentary film, The Dutchmen, in anticipation of the 30th anniversary of the Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchmen’s NCAA Division III national championship basketball season.
(Photo above, left to right: Garrett Heath, Pat Flannery, and Jason Say)
The doc, directed by Garrett Heath of Okiejoke Media and produced by Heath and Jason Say, tells the story of the small college’s David and Goliath battle to bring home the championship to Annville, Pa. in 1994. Say was a member of the Dutchmen’s starting lineup.
Lebanon Valley College had a student enrollment of less than 900 students in 1994, and defeated New York University in the final, a school with an enrollment of over 49,000.
“Sports is more about the kind of person you’re going to grow up to be,” said Say before the screening to a theater full of student-athletes and their families and coaches.
The film brings together every member of the LVC Flying Dutchmen team, along with staff and Head Coach Pat Flannery, back to the college’s campus to talk about their once-in-a-lifetime season.
Featured heavily in the film is current Penn State head basketball coach Mike Rhoades, who led the team to the championship as a shooting guard. Rhoades still holds the college’s records for assists, steals, and free-throw percentage. He graduated as Lebanon Valley College’s all-time leading scorer. His #5 jersey is retired at Lebanon Valley.
The film relies on interviews with the team and coaching staff, as well as archival footage from the 1993 and 1994 seasons, including a buzzer-beater tip-in by Say to tie the 1994 championship game and send it to overtime. The Dutchmen dominated NYU in the five-minute extra period, stealing the championship from the jaws of defeat.
Heath said all the interviews in the film were done during a three day period last August. Every single team member made the journey to Annville to film the doc.
Coach Flannery, who took the Dutchmen to the second round of the tournament the year before winning the championship, and who later twice took Bucknell University to the Division I second round, was in attendance for the screening.
Following the film, Coach Flannery addressed the student-athletes in the audience for about 15 minutes. During his remarks, he gave the students advice for their lives both inside and outside of competition. He told them the importance of making eye contact when speaking with anyone, giving your best effort at anything you do, practicing good listening skills, and being a great teammate.
“Work hard in the classroom because you’re going to need it,” Flannery added.
The Dutchmen will be released for streaming by Lebanon Valley College on March 19, the 30th anniversary of the championship win.
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