11/23/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – After falling behind early, the Lackawanna College Falcons turned up the pressure, defensively, and never looked back, racing to a 79-51 victory over the Mercer County CC Vikings on Tuesday evening at the Lackawanna Student Union.
 
The Falcons (3-2) forced 22 turnovers and had 13 steals, turning that into 34 points off turnovers, all while holding the Vikings (1-7) to just 33% shooting for the game. Mercer's 51 points were the least amount of points given up by Lackawanna College since January 2019, when they held Bergen County to just 45 points at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  
 
Daryl Coleman led all scorers with 20 points, including a six-for-eight showing from beyond-the-arc. Jaylen Davis had 12 points and seven rebounds. In all, the Falcons had eleven of their thirteen players put points on the board, in a game where Lackawanna shot 47% from the field and 39% from downtown. The Falcons outrebounded Mercer County CC by a +15 margin, and the Falcons had 23 assists on their 32 made shots.
 
The first half didn't get off to the best start for Lackawanna College, as the Vikings of Mercer took advantage of the 2-3 zone deployed by Lackawanna and bombed from deep, hitting four of their first six three-point attempts to take a 12-5 advantage just inside the 17:00 minute mark. The Falcons adjusted defensively to ramp up the pressure on the Vikings, and the result was a 10-0 run over two minutes of game time to make it 15-12, Lackawanna College.
 
After both teams traded runs, the Falcons found themselves up 27-23 at the 9:08 mark in the first half. Coleman hit back-to-back threes, his fourth and fifth in-a-row in the half, which gave the Falcons the ten-point lead at 33-23. Both teams struggled to find much to work with over the last six-and-a-half minutes, but the Falcon defense stood out, limiting Mercer's shooting and forcing multiple turnovers. The Falcons took a 39-26 lead into the break. After the initial 4-for-6 shooting from three-point territory for the Vikings, Lackawanna College held them to just 2-for-12 the rest of the half.
 
After the teams traded turnovers on their first possessions of the second half, the Falcons got a three-point shot from Coleman to start what would be a decisive 12-point run, highlighted by a Davis dunk in transition, five Mercer turnovers, and some great transition baskets from Lackawanna, making it 51-26 at the 16:00 minute mark.
 
From there, the lead would yo-yo back and forth from as low as 20 (60-40 at 9:15 to go) to as high as 32 (76-44 at 1:52 to go). Coach Landon Gabriel would empty the bench at the 4:19 mark, getting his bench players some much needed time on the floor. Brandon Scott would score eight points, including a rim-rattling jam in transition, while pulling down four rebounds, and dishing two assists. The Falcons finished the night with 30 bench points, and a 24-to-4 advantage on points in the paint.
 
Lackawanna College has an extended break before their next game, which is Saturday, December 4^th, when they travel to Georgetown, DE to take on Delaware Tech. The game is part of a doubleheader with the women's teams, with the men's contest set to tip at 2:00pm ET.