11/20/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – An offensive onslaught in the second half made all the difference for the Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team, as the Falcons heated up just enough to complete the comeback and upset the Essex County College Wolverines, 87-83, on Saturday afternoon in the Lackawanna Student Union.
 
The Falcons (2-2) were ice cold in the first half, hitting just 30% of their shots and were just 2-for-16 from beyond-the-arc. The second half was much different, as Lackawanna College shot 58%, hit six threes, and used a 19-8 run in the first eight minutes of play to put themselves back in the game, and give themselves the win over Essex County (0-4).
 
The Falcons had four players in double-figures, including a team-high 23 points, eight rebounds, and six assists from Jaylen Davis. "JD" was an efficient 9-for-11 from the floor, while scoring 13 points in the second half, as the Falcons erased a 10-point halftime deficit. Ahmir Ellzy had 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, hitting four three-point shots in the second half. David Pope and Magd Abdelwahab had 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench for the Falcons, who scored 30 bench points for the game.
 
As a team, Lackawanna College shot 43.5% for the game, and were just 8-for-32 from downtown, but they made six of those eight shots in the second half, and went 14-for-22 from the line in the second half to help get them over the finish line.
 
The first half was back-and-forth, with both teams trading misses and shots, when a Davis dunk in transition seemed to wake the crowd up, cutting the Essex lead to 14-13 with 12:36 to go in the half. Both teams ramped up a bit from there, getting to a tie at 20-20 with 10:22 to play in the first half thanks to a Jaylen Davis bucket. Unfortunately for Lackawanna College, that would be their last shot for nearly six minutes, as the Wolverines stretched the lead slowly, but surely, out to 31-20 before a Daryl Coleman jumper stopped the bleeding. The Falcons would battle back to make it 33-29 with 1:49 to play on an Abdelwahab jumper, but the Wolverines stretched it right back out to ten at 39-29 before the break. It was a half where Lackawanna College shot 11-for-36 from the field, including just 2-for-16 from three-point land.
 
To start the second half, the Falcons recommitted themselves to playing through the middle on offense, and Davis was the main beneficiary of that, scoring eight points in the first four minutes as the Falcons kept pounding the ball to the free throw line, and letting the offense go from there. Just shy of the 12:00 minute mark, the Falcons grabbed the lead for the first time since early in the first half, when a pair of Nashawn Johnson free throws made it 48-47 Lackawanna College. Essex would go on a quick 7-0 run to reclaim the lead, but the Falcons battled back thanks to a Johnson three-point play, and a pair of David Pope threes, the second of which made it 57-55 Falcons with 9:34 to play.
 
Essex took that as a sign to start dueling, as Jonathan Delgado, who led all scorers with 35 points, buried a deep three-ball to briefly give the Wolverines the lead. Briefly, because Ellzy finally hit his first three of the game right after that, giving Lackawanna the lead back at 60-58 with 8:50 to play. After another Ellzy three, two Pope free throws, and a Davis jumper cutting to the basket, the Falcons led 67-63 with 5:46 to play.
 
The lead would grow to eight at 73-65 when Gabe Springer converted on a nifty pass from Davis in the lane with 4:05 to play. Back-to-back Ellzy threes, sandwiching a Pascal Doddard jumper, made it 79-72 Falcons at the 2:22 mark, but a pair of Delgado threes got it back to 81-78, Falcons, with 90 seconds to play. After a pair of Abdelwahab free throws put them up five, the Falcons missed four straight shots from the charity stripe, leaving the door slightly ajar for Essex to cut it to three. A pair of 1-for-2 trips for the Falcons pushed the lead back to five, but a foul on a three-point shot allowed Essex to get within 85-83 with 16 seconds remaining. After a foul in the backcourt, a pair of Ellzy free throws sealed the deal for the Falcons.
 
Lackawanna College has one more game before the Thanksgiving break, happening on Tuesday, November 23^rd when they host Mercer County College at the Lackawanna Student Union. The game is part of a doubleheader with the women's team, and will tip at 7:00pm. You can watch the action live at Youtube.com/LackawannaCollegeFalcons.