11/4/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team opens their 2021-2022 season against the Penn State Hazleton Nittany Lions on Thursday, November 4^th at 7:00pm ET at the Lackawanna Student Union. It's the first game of the year for both teams. Fans and spectators will be allowed in the stands, and tickets will be available for $3 (students) and $5 (adults) at the door. All those in attendance will be required to wear facemasks, as per Lackawanna College policy.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons return to action after going 7-11 last year in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Lackawanna College, despite their sub .500 record, won the NJCAA Region XIX championship for the first time since 2012.
 
Lackawanna College returns nine players from last year's team, including four players with major starting experience. The Falcons return four of their top five scorers from last season, including All-Region selections Nashawn Johnson (14.5 ppg) and Ahmir Ellzy (10.3 ppg). Alongside Johnson and Ellzy, the Falcons also bring back Jaylen Davis (8.9 ppg) and David Pope (7.4 ppg).
 
The Falcons also bring back Jalen Cassidy, who saw 20 minutes per game off the bench last season, averaging 4.9 points per game. Brandon Scott, Jihaad Dennard, Jakob Curnow, and Kameron Bannister are also back this season.
 
Lackawanna College will add a few players who can contribute right away, like shifty point guard Will Johnson and lanky forward Gabe Springer. Magd Abdelwahab is another guard expected to play meaningful minutes, along with forward Remy Sykes and forward Daryl Coleman.
 
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.
 
 
Penn State University Hazleton
The Nittany Lions return to action after not playing last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
PSU Hazleton does return their leading scorer from 2019, Andy Kwiatkowski, a senior who averaged 22 points per game in the 2019-2020 season. In two seasons, Kwiatkowski has 836 points for the Nittany Lions, averaging 19.4 ppg in his two years, hitting on 43% of his three-point attempts and 46% overall from the field. Kwiatkowski averages just shy of five rebounds per game in his time at PSU Hazleton. Kwiatkowski led the PSUAC in scoring in 19-20.
 
Another returner from the 2019-2020 team is Daniel Gendimenico, a senior from Hazleton, PA. Gendimenico averaged 4.6 points per game in the 19-20 season, and appeared in all 24 games for the Nittany Lions.
 
Otherwise, the Nittany Lions are young, with their nine other players being underclassmen, and seven of those nine are first years. A few players from northeast PA are on the squad, including Paul Feisel (Crestwood HS), Nick Ruggeri (Crestwood HS), Aiden Wiktor (Danville Area HS), and the aforementioned Gendimenico (Hazleton Area).
 
The head coach for Penn State is longtime leader Jeff Rush, into his eleventh season at the helm for the Nittany Lions. Rush has been with the program as a head coach since the 2010 season, and has been with the program in general since 2007. Rush has helped PSU Hazleton to several PSUAC Northern Championships, and a handful of appearances at the Bryce Jordan Center in the PSUAC championships. Rush is a Hazleton Area graduate, and played basketball for the Cougars under the legendary Bruce Leib. After his time at Hazleton Area, Rush eventually made his way back to the Cougars to coach underneath Leib, before jumping to Penn State Hazleton.
 
If you can't make tonight's game, be sure to watch live on the Lackawanna College YouTube Channel. Steve Young will have the play-by-play, and Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will provide the color commentary. You can watch along HERE.
 
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