12/10/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team will play one more home game before the Fall 2021 semester ends, as the Falcons host the SUNY Ulster CC Senators on Saturday, December 11^th at the Lackawanna Student Union. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm ET.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (3-4) are on the wrong end of a two-game losing streak, dropping their last game, a 92-81 decision to Raritan Valley CC at home, this past Tuesday night. Lackawanna College held the high-powered Lions down in the first half, holding Raritan to just 33% shooting. Lackawanna led 35-29 late in the first half, but a short 8-1 burst by Raritan put the Lions on top, 37-36 at the break. From there, the Falcons struggled to hold the pace of the game down, as Raritan started forcing turnovers, and getting out in transition. The Lions shot 49% for the second half, and led by as many as 15. The Falcons closed the gap to just six points late in the second half, but Raritan found that extra gear to pull away, hitting free throws down the stretch to win. Will Johnson led the Falcons with his season-high 21 points. Johnson hit four three-point shots and dished out five assists for Lackawanna College. Jaylen Davis had a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards, while Ahmir Ellzy had 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals for the Falcons. Lackawanna College had 18 turnovers, which Raritan Valley turned into 21 points.     
 
Davis is the team-leader in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game so far this year, along with his team-leading 8.6 rebounds per game. "JD" has scored in double-figures in six of his seven games this year, going over 20+ points twice, and scoring a season-high 25 points against PSU-Hazleton on opening night. Davis had a season-high 15 rebounds that night, as well, securing a double-double in his first game of the season. Davis has two double-doubles on the year.
 
Daryl Coleman and David Pope are tied for second on the team, each averaging 9.6 points per game this year. Coleman is also averaging 5.4 rebounds per game, and is the team's best three-point threat, hitting a team-high 16 threes this year at 40% from downtown. Coleman has scored in double-figures three times this season, including a season-high 20 points against Mercer County CC. Pope, who does his damage as a bench player, is hitting around 42% of his shots this year, and is second on the team with nine made three-pointers this year. Pope is the Falcons' best free throw shooter at 83% on the season. He's scored in double-figures three times this year, including a season-high of 16 points twice (against Erie and Del Tech).
 
Gabe Springer second on the team with 8.1 rebounds per game. Gabe is averaging around 4.7 points per game, and is the team leader in blocks with 12 through his first seven games. Gabe had a career-best 14-point, 19-rebound, 4-block performance against Erie earlier this year. Will Johnson is the assist leader, averaging 4.1 assists per game so far this year, while scoring 8.3 points per game on the year. Magd Abdelwahab is second in assists per game (3.1) and fifth on the team in scoring (7.7), coming off the bench, like Pope. Magd has hit double-figures twice this year, including a season-high 23 against Niagara. Ahmir Ellzy is third on the team at 8.9 points per game so far this year. Ellzy has hit double-figures three times, including a season-high 15 points twice, against Erie and Essex.
 
Lackawanna College is shooting at 41.4% as a team in its first seven games, and the Falcons are shooting 29.3% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting at 64.6% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +7 rebounding margin, and has 36 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to just 39.9% shooting so far this year, and teams have only hit 25.3% of their three-point attempts against the Lackawanna College defense, which has Lackawanna ranked 9^th in the NJCAA in 3PT% defense.
 
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 SUNY Ulster CC Senators are winless on the year, 0-8 so far this season. Ulster has struggled in the last few games on defense, especially, allowing teams to score over 100+ points in four of their last five contests. In their most recent game, SUNY Sullivan beat the Senators 119-62, the most points that Ulster had given up so far this year. SUNY Sullivan scored 62 points in the first half, and led by 32 at the break, en route to their win. Ulster had three players in double-figures, including a team-high 24 points for Xavier Gibbs, who hit nine field goals for the Senators. Eljamah Seymour scored 14 points off the bench, while Jocquez Blunt scored 10 points for Ulster.
 
SUNY Ulster is giving up around 99.1 points per game so far this year. Teams have scored 100+ points five times against the Senators in their first eight games. Ulster is scoring around 67 points per game this year. The Senators are averaging around 39% shooting from the field, while their opponents are hitting nearly 49% of their shots. Ulster hits just 25% of their three-point attempts, and averages nearly 22 turnovers per game on the season. The Senators have a +3 rebounding margin, but are only averaging around 35 rebounds per game. Opponents are shooting over 32% from downtown against the Ulster defense.   
 
Ulster has three players averaging double-figures, and is led by Xavier Gibbs at 13.9 points per game this year. Gibbs has scored in double-figures six times this season, and twice he's scored over 20 points in a game. His season-high was 27 points in an eight-point loss to Bryant & Stratton – Albany. He had a season-high five assists against Mohawk Valley. Gibbs shoots around 38% from the field.
 
TJ Porter is second on the team at 13.8 points per game, just behind Gibbs. Porter does most of his damage from the bench, only starting in one game this season for Ulster. Porter is shooting around 53% from the field, and is one of the better three-point shooters for Ulster, hitting around 37% from downtown. Porter is also the team-leader in steals, at 1.6 steals per game. Porter has hit double-figures in six games this year, with his season-high of 21 coming against Mohawk Valley, where he was 7-for-9 from the field. Porter was held to just two points in the loss to SUNY Sullivan.
 
Jocquez Blunt is third on the team at 10.8 points per game, and is the team-leader underneath with 8.3 rebounds per game. Blunt is hitting on 53% of his shots this year, and is averaging about a block per game. Blunt has scored double-figures in points in six of eight games this year, and has three double-doubles on the season. His best game was a season-high 18 points, to go with 12 rebounds, in a loss to Westchester. Blunt had a season-high 15 rebounds against Bryant & Stratton – Albany earlier this season. He's scored in double-figures in his last three games.   
 
The head coach for SUNY Ulster is Marques McKinney, now in his second full-season and third year overall at Ulster. McKinney took over the program ahead of the '19-'20 season, after several assistant coaching stints at Cazenovia College, Medaille College, New York Institute of Technology, and Onondaga Community College. McKinney has been a coach on the various summer basketball camp circuits for a number of years, and competed at the junior college level when he played at Dutchess CC from '02 to '04. McKinney has his Associates Degree from Dutchess in 2005, and earned a Bachelor's Degree from SUNY Empire State College in 2016.  
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 1:00pm tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA on Saturday, December 11^th. Tickets for the game will be sold at the door, and are $5 (Adults) and $3 (Students). Lackawanna College students will be admitted for free with their student ID. For a reminder about the Lackawanna College spectator policy, please click HERE.
 
The game will be video livestreamed on the Lackawanna College YouTube Channel, for those who cannot attend. Steve Young will hand the play-by-play, while Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will provide the color commentary. You can see the stream HERE.