1/14/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team, on the wrong side of a four-game skid, looks to rebound when the CCBC Catonsville Cardinals come to town on Saturday afternoon at the Lackawanna Student Union. The game is set for a 3:00pm ET tip-off, the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team, and will be streamed live on the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube Channel at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (4-8), for the second straight game, saw an opponent shoot a blazing 60% from the field, as nationally ranked SUNY Sullivan led wire-to-wire in a match-up on Thursday night, winning 104-66. The Generals scored the first eleven points, setting a blistering pace that the Falcons just couldn't match. Lackawanna shot 35% from the field, but had 17 turnovers and were -11 on the boards. David Pope matched his season-high with another 19-point performance to lead the Falcons, while Will Johnson scored 12 points and dished out five assists. Ky'Ron Harbin scored a season-high nine points, pulled down eight rebounds, and had four assists of his own to help the Falcons off the bench.  
 
Jaylen Davis, who has missed the last three games for Lackawanna College, is the team-leader in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game so far this year, along with 9.3 rebounds per game, also first on the team. "JD" has scored in double-figures in eight of nine games this year, going over 20+ points three times, and scoring a season-high 25 points against PSU-Hazleton on opening night. Davis's 16 rebounds against Morris was a season-high, giving him his third double-double of the season. Davis is shooting 54.3% from the field on the year, and averages 1.8 assists per game, along with 1.6 blocks per game this year.
 
David Pope is second on the team with 10.9 points per game on the year. Pope, who has started for the Falcons in his last three games, is hitting around 42% of his shots this year, and leads the Falcons with 19 made three-pointers. Pope is among the Lackawanna leaders in FT% this year at 76%, and has scored in double-figures six times this year, including his season-high 19 points twice now, against Harcum and SUNY Sullivan. Pope hit a season-high four three-pointers against Cecil, his first start of the season. In his last three games, all starts, Pope is averaging 18 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game, and shooting 43% from the field, while knocking down nine three-pointers.
 
Will Johnson is the third-leading scorer this year, averaging 10.8 points per game. Johnson has scored in double-figures in his last seven games, including back-to-back games of 20+ points. He had a season-high 21 against Raritan Valley in December, then followed it up with 20 points, on 6-for-11 shooting against Ulster on December 11^th. Johnson leads the Falcons with 3.8 assists per game this season, and is the team-leader in steals with 11 takeaways this year. Johnson leads the team in free throw shooting, hitting 79% of his attempts this year.
 
Daryl Coleman, who has missed the last three games for the Falcons, is fourth on the team in scoring, with 9.3 points per game this season. Coleman is also averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, and is the team's second-best three-point threat, hitting 16 threes this year. Coleman has scored in double-figures four times this season, including a season-high 20 points against Mercer County CC. Coleman put up ten points and six rebounds, along with three assists, against Morris last month, but was 0-for-6 from downtown.
 
Ahmir Ellzy is fifth on the team with 8.8 points per game this season. Ellzy, an All-Region selection from last year, had 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds against Morris last month. Ellzy has hit double-figures four times this year, and leads the Falcons in steal with eight on the season. Ellzy is second on the team with 2.8 assists per game this season.
 
Magd Abdelwahab will also see time for the Falcons, averaging 7.2 points per game this year. Magd has hit double-figures three times this year, including his season-high 23 points against Niagara County CC earlier this season. Magd is hitting 35% of his shots this year, and is third on the team with 2.4 assists per game.
 
Gabe Springer is second on the Falcons with 8.1 rebounds per game, and is averaging just shy of six points per game (5.7), while also leading the team in blocks (18) this season. Gabe had a career-best 14-point, 19-rebound, 4-block performance against Erie earlier this year. Springer rejected six shots, a season-best, against Ulster, while pulling down 12 rebounds against the Senators. His 13-point performance against Morris was just the second time he scored in double-figures this year.  
 
Lackawanna College, averaging around 75.7 points per game as a team, is shooting at 40% as a team this season, and are shooting 27.3% from beyond-the-arc. Lackawanna is also shooting 64% from the free-throw line. Lackawanna College holds a +4 rebounding margin, and has 58 blocks as a team. The Falcons are holding their opponents to 44.2% shooting so far this year, and teams have hit 31.8% of their three-point attempts against the Lackawanna College defense. Prior to the games against Harcum and SUNY Sullivan, the Falcons were ranked 9^th in the NJCAA in 3PT% defense. Falcon opponents are scoring around 86 points per game this year.
 
Coach Landon Gabriel is in 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 CCBC Catonsville Cardinals are 3-13 on the year, and are coming off an 81-71 loss to Hagerstown CC earlier this week. In that game, the Cardinals kept things tight in the first half, trading the lead back and forth early and then rallying from an 11-point deficit to tie things at 36, only for the Hawks to score the final six points of the half, and, eventually, open up a 16-point lead midway through the second half. Hagerstown shot 57% from the field overall, and hit 46% from downtown, while outrebounding Catonsville 51-to-23, and outscoring them 40-to-20 in the paint. Catonsville shot 37% from the field, and went to the free throw line 34 times, but could only convert 64% of their attempts, while committing 14 turnovers. The game had a combined 46 fouls. The Cardinals had three players in double-figures, led by Joacquin Gonzalez, who scored a game-high 26 points, making eight field goals and shooting 7-for-9 from the charity stripe. Maurice Smith had 18 points off the bench, in his first appearance of the season, making ten of his 13 free throw attempts. Jalen Yates added 12 points for Catonsville.
 
The Cardinals average 75.4 points per game, and is shooting 45% as a team, while hitting 36% from downtown. The Cardinals have a -9 rebounding margin, and average around 14 turnovers per game. Catonsville is giving up around 86 points per game on the year. Opponents are shooting 47% this season, and 31% from downtown, but are averaging 17 turnovers per game against the Cardinal defense. Catonsville's opponents are also averaging around four blocks per game.  
 
The Cardinals have three players averaging double-figures on the year, led by Joacquin Gonzalez, who is scoring 14.3 points per contest, on 41% shooting, including 35% from downtown, second on the team. Gonzalez is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, second on the team. Gonzalez has hit double-figures in eight games this season, scoring 20+ points five times. His season-high was 33 points against Jamestown CC in November, where he set season-highs in shots made (12) and three-pointers made (6). Gonzalez has scored 20+ points in four of his last five games, and is averaging 20.6 points per game in those contests. Gonzalez hit his season-high 11 rebounds, the only time he went over double-figures in rebounds, against Wake Tech in November.
 
Christopher Johnson is second on the team with 13.3 points per game. Johnson leads the team in shooting (51.6%) and rebounds (7.4 per game). He's averaging 1.3 assists per game, and is shooting 36% from downtown. Johnson has scored in double-figures nine times this year. Johnson hit a season-high of 23 points twice this season, against both College of Southern Maryland and Prince George's CC. Johnson made a season-high 11 field goals against College of Southern Maryland. Johnson has three double-doubles on the year, and his season-high 13 rebounds came against Louisburg College. Johnson did not play in the game against Hagerstown CC.
 
Jalen Yates is third on the team with 10.9 points per game this year. Yates leads the Cardinals with 37 three-point shots made, and is shooting around 36% on the season. Yates has scored in double-figures in nine of his last ten games, and scored a season-high 18 points against Prince George's CC. Yates is averaging 13.6 points per game over his last ten appearances. He's hit double-figures in four straight games, and scored 12 against Hagerstown CC despite shooting just 4-for-15 from the field. The game at Hagerstown was just his third start of the season.
 
Kyree Banks and Keith Bullock Jr. are fourth and fifth on the team at 9.8 and 9.7 points per game, respectively. Banks shoots 37% from the field, and is second on the team with 1.4 assists per game, and third with 1.4 steals per game. Banks has hit double-figures four times, including his season-high 26 points against Harcum College, he hit a season-high nine field goals in that contest. Banks missed four games in the middle of the year, and slowly worked himself back to the starting line-up in three games in 2020. Banks had a season-high six rebounds vs. Camden County College, and a season-high four assists vs. Wake Tech. Bullock, Jr. is second on the team, hitting 46% from the field on the year, and leads the Cardinals with 3.9 assists per game. He also leads the team in steals, averaging 2.1 swipes per game. Bullock has hit double-figures eight times this year, scoring a season-high 14 points on three separate occasions. Bullock hit a season-high in assists against the Navy JV squad, when he dished out eight helpers. He had seven points, four steals, and four rebounds in the loss to Hagerstown.  
 
The head coach for CCBC Catonsville is Greate White, who is entering his seventh year as the head coach, and sixth full-season at the helm, after sitting out last year. White started with Catonsville as an assistant under former coach Randy Gregory during the 2014-2015 season, then took over the next year. White led the Cardinals to a 20-win season in just his second year in charge, getting them into the Region XX tournament. He's won 46 games in his time at Catonsville, and has been a fixture on the basketball circuit in Baltimore for a number of years. White, a standout HS football player and native of Baltimore, went to school at CCBC Dundalk, where he switched to basketball and helped take the Lions to the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship in 2000. White graduated Dundalk and left for LeMoyne Owen College, where he continued to excel on the basketball court. He'd soon return to Baltimore, and immediately started making in-roads in Baltimore's basketball landscape.
 
Game Information
The match-up is set for a 3:00pm tip-off at the Lackawanna Student Union in Scranton, PA, and is the second game of a doubleheader with the Lackawanna College women's team. The game is open to the public, and tickets can be purchased at the door for students ($3) and adults ($5). Lackawanna College students can get in for free by showing their student IDs.
 
The Lackawanna College Spectator Policy can be viewed HERE.  For those who cannot attend, the game will be video livestreamed at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.  Steve Young will provide the play-by-play, and Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will provide the color commentary.