11/23/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team takes the court one more time before the Thanksgiving break, playing host to the Mercer County Community College Vikings on Tuesday, November 23^rd in the Lackawanna Student Union. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00pm ET.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (2-2) are fresh off a come-from-behind win over the Essex County College Wolverines this past Saturday at the Lackawanna Student Union, 87-83. In that game, Lackawanna College trailed by ten points at the break, and fell behind by six halfway through the second half, but the Falcons rallied to grab a win and even their record on the season. Jaylen Davis scored 23 points to lead the Falcons, shooting 9-for-11 from the floor and scoring 13 of his points in the second half, while Ahmir Ellzy scored all 15 of his points in the second half, including a four-for-five shooting performance from beyond-the-arc in the second half. The Falcons had four players in double-figures, including Davis, Ellzy, and David Pope and Magd Abdelwahab, who had 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Falcons, despite shooting just 30% in the first half, including 2-for-16 from three-point territory, shot 58% in the second half, scored 58 points, 20 off the bench, and hit 14-for-22 on their free throw attempts.  
 
Lackawanna College is averaging 78.5 points per game in their first four contests, and hitting on 42% of their shots from the field. The Falcons are outrebounding opponents by a +6 margin (44-to-37), and already have 22 blocks on the season, as a team. The Lackawanna College defense is holding opponents to just 28% shooting from beyond-the-arc this season. The Falcons are giving up around 81 points per game, and have 68 turnovers on the season, 35 on steals by their opponents.
 
Jaylen Davis is one of three Falcons' players averaging double-figures this year, leading the team with 17.0 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game. "JD" is shooting 64% from the field, and is 16-for-23 from the FT line this year. Davis has hit double-figures three times already this season, and twice scored over 20+ points. He had a season-high 25 against Penn State Hazleton in the season opener.  
 
David Pope is averaging 10.8 points per game, all coming off the bench, and has hit seven three-pointers in his first four games. Pope is doing that while averaging 15 minutes per game, and he scored 13 points off-the-bench in the win against Essex. Magd Abedelwahab is third on the team with 10.3 points per game, also all off the bench. Magd is the team leader with 16 assists on the year, a 4.0 assists per game average, and has scored in double-figures in his last two games. Ahmir Ellzy has made the most three-pointers on the team with eight makes, half of which came in the win over Essex. Ellzy is averaging 8.8 points per game, and five rebounds per game this year. Gabe Springer is the tied for the team-lead in rebounds with Davis, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, and is averaging 6.3 points per game, to go with his team-high 2.3 blocks per game on the year.
 
The Falcons, despite shooting a mild 42% on the season, have four players with ten or more assists on the year, and have had assists on 64% of their baskets this season.
 
Coach Landon Gabriel enters his second season as the head coach for Lackawanna College. Coach Gabriel was hired in 2020 to lead the Falcons program, and rebuild them into a contender. Gabriel spent the previous eleven years coaching at his alma mater, Carbondale Area, where he helped the Chargers boys basketball team to numerous PIAA District II playoff appearances. Gabriel is a King's College graduate, where he played basketball for the Monarchs.
 
About the Opponents
The Vikings come into the contest with a 1-6 overall record, but that one win was a 66-57 victory over Essex County College back on November 16^th. The last game for Mercer was a 79-58 loss to Niagara County CC, where they trailed by two at the halftime break, but couldn't slow down the Thunder Wolves in the second half. Mercer shot 42% for the game, and hit 48% of their threes (11-for-23), but had 25 turnovers, which Niagara turned into 13 steals, while hitting 50% of their shots throughout the game.  
 
Mercer County CC is averaging around 54 points per game, while opponents are scoring nearly 76 per game against them. Mercer has struggled from the field, hitting around 37% as a team, and just 33% from beyond-the-arc, while opponents have hit 50% of their shots against the Vikings. Mercer is averaging nearly 18 turnovers per game.
 
Two players average double-figures for the Vikings, with Nyzhir Brown as the leader with 14.3 points per game, and Tyrese Myrick second with 12.7 points per game. Brown has scored in double-figures in all seven games this year, and had a season-high 23 points in the win against Essex. He had 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including four three-pointers, against Niagara County. Myrick has missed the last four games for the Vikings. In his absence, Donovan Ryland has gotten starts in the last four games. Ryland is averaging 6.6 points per game, and 1.9 rebounds per game. He had four points against Niagara.
 
Nymere Whittaker is the team-leader in rebounds per game at 6.4, to go with his 6.4 points per game. Whittaker has two double-doubles on the year, including a 13-point, 12-rebound game against Roxbury, and a 10-point, 11 rebound game against Essex. He's hit double-figures in only those two games. Whittaker also leads the team at just over a steal per game. He had nine points and six rebounds against Niagara County. Ja'Lier Burns, who hasn't played in the last two games, leads the team with just a shade under two assists per game, while scoring five points per game and snagging 2.4 rebounds per game.
 
The head coach for the Vikings is Howard Levy, who enters his 13^th season as the head coach. Mercer did not participate in the pandemic shortened season last year, so while this is technically his 14^th year at Mercer, it's only his 13^th season. Levy has a 160-189 record in his career, and has led Mercer to four seasons of 19 wins or better, including a 23-4 record in 2014-2015. That year, the Vikings made it to the Region XIX championship game before falling to Essex in the final. Mercer did win the GSAC championship that season. Levy has a Region XIX championship to his name (09-10), and took the Vikings to the NJCAA DII tournament that year. Levy, a Princeton graduate, played under legendary coach Pete Carril in the 80's, before he went on to play for Team USA in the Maccabiah Games in 1985. Levy played professionally in the CBA and in Australia, and has spent time on the bench as an assistant at George Washington, and then at Princeton for eleven seasons as a volunteer assistant.
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 5:00pm tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union on Tuesday, November 23^rd. Tickets will be sold at the door, and available for students ($3) and adults ($5). Students with a Lackawanna College ID get in for free. All attendees are required to follow NJCAA Region XIX and Lackawanna College guidelines, which include wearing facemasks when in the Student Union. For more details and our spectator policy, click HERE.
 
For those who cannot attend in person, a video livestream will be available via the Lackawanna College YouTube Channel. Steve Young and Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will have the call. Watch along HERE.