1/15/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team got within a point, but couldn't quite get themselves over the hump, as the Cardinals of CCBC Catonsville converted eight-of-ten free throws down the stretch the grab the 82-73 win on Saturday afternoon at the Lackawanna Student Union.
 
The Falcons (4-9) couldn't convert on a free throw to tie with 2:58 to go, and then missed two follow-up shots to try to take the lead on offensive rebounds. The Cardinals (4-13) were then able to convert from the charity stripe, while forcing a pair of back-to-back crucial turnovers, dooming the Falcons to their fifth straight loss on the year.
 
Lackawanna College shot 38% for the game, but were just 6-for-30 from downtown, and committed 23 turnovers. The Falcons had four players in double-figures, led by Magd Abdelwahab's 20 points off the bench, 15 coming in the second half. Will Johnson had 19 points, going 6-for-7 from the free throw line, while Ky'Ron Harbin scored a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds in his first start of the year, and David Pope added 10 points and eight rebounds. Catonsville had four players in double-figures, led by Christopher Johnson's game-high 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half. The Cardinals shot 41% for the game, but hit 47% of their shots in the second half, and outscored the Falcons 23-to-6 on points off turnovers.
 
The first half started with both teams trading buckets, and Catonsville held an 8-6 lead just three minutes in. The Falcons would go on a 7-0 run to take command, getting five straight points from Will Johnson and a pair of free throws from Brandon Scott, making it 13-8 at the 15:21 mark.
 
The Cardinals got a pair of buckets, but the Falcons got four more points from Will Johnson and an Abdelwahab jumper to make it 19-12 with 11:11 remaining in the first half, forcing a timeout from Catonsville. Out of that timeout, the Cardinals scored six straight to pull within one, but the Abdelwahab banged home a triple, igniting another 7-0 for the Falcons, giving them a 26-18 lead with just over 6:30 to go in the half.
 
Catonsville got to within 28-26 at the 4:50 mark, but a Ky'Ron Harbin three lengthened the lead back out. Undaunted, the Cardinals tied it up at 33 on a Maurice Smith shot in the lane, and forced a turnover on an offensive foul with just over a minute to go. David Pope picked Smith's pocket on the ensuing possession, and flushed home the breakaway dunk with 48 seconds remaining in the half to give the Falcons the slight lead, but Catonsville converted on three free throws to close the half with the 36-35 lead.
 
In the second half, after yo-yoing between a four and two-point lead, the Cardinals hit a little spurt that made it 51-42 with 14:03 to play. The Falcons answered with yet another 7-0 run, this time courtesy of the returning Ahmir Ellzy, who started it with a three-point shot from the right wing. After a Will Johnson jumper and a pair of Pope free throws, the Falcons were within 51-49 at the 12:33 mark of the half.
 
A little over a minute later, Abdelwahab hit a pair of free throws to tie the Falcons and Cardinals up at 53. Catonsville would score seven points in the next three minutes, while Abdelwahab himself would score eight for the Falcons, including the shot at 8:12 that put the Falcons back in front, 61-60.
 
Neither team would score for a solid two minutes, before a Maurice Smith free throw would knot it back up at 61 with 5:54 to play, followed by a three-pointer from Jalen Yates and a lay-up from Keith Bullock, Jr. making it 66-61 with 3:42 to go. The Falcons would cut it to a one-point lead thanks to back-to-back perfect trips to the line for Ky'Ron Harbin and Will Johnson, setting up the final sequences.
 
After a Keith Bullock, Jr. jumper gave the Cardinals a 68-65 lead with 3:06 to play, Lackawanna College quickly got the ball out of the net, down the floor, and into the hands of Will Johnson, who finished with an acrobatic lay-up, through contact, to bring the Student Union to its feet and put himself on the line with a chance to tie with 2:58 to go. Johnson, who had been perfect from the line to that point, missed it short, but tracked down the loose ball for the offensive board. The Falcons quickly whipped the ball around the perimeter to a wide open Abdelwahab for three, but his shot missed long. Ahmir Ellzy got yet another offensive rebound for Lackawanna College, but his follow-up wouldn't go down, allowing the Cardinals to secure the rebound and absorb a foul with 2:46 to play. From there, the Cardinals started hitting their free throws, with freshman Maurice Smith, who scored 16 points off the bench, went 5-for-6 from the line during the final three minutes.
 
The Falcons were still in it late, after an Abdelwahab jumper had cut the deficit to 74-71 with 1:28 to go, but a Bullock, Jr. score, followed by back-to-back Lackawanna turnovers that turned into an extra three points, made it 79-71 with 43 seconds to play. From there, Christopher Johnson would sink three free throws to help the Cardinals to their fourth win of the year, and first in 2022.
 
The Falcons fall to 4-9 on the year, and will look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 19^th, when they travel to Trenton, NJ to take on the Mercer County CC Vikings in a Region XIX match-up. Earlier this season, the Falcons beat the Vikings 79-51 at the Lackawanna Student Union. Wednesday's game is the second of a doubleheader with the women's teams, and will start at 7:00pm ET.