Box Score 1/19/21
 
WEST WINDSOR TWP., NJ – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team shook themselves out of a five-game slide and picked up a big road win in Region XIX play with a 76-61 win over Mercer County CC on Wednesday night on the road.
 
The Falcons (5-9, 3-3) used a strong second half to steadily pull away from the Vikings (1-14, 1-5), after a pesky first half. Mercer took a 12-8 lead early in the contest, but the Falcons slowly whittled it away with a 9-2 run to grab the lead, thanks to an emphatic three-point play from Nashawn Johnson that made it 17-14 Falcons at the 10:26 mark in the first half.
 
Once they grabbed the lead, the offense started to find its rhythm for Lackawanna College, as Nashawn Johnson, Ky'Ron Harbin, and Gabe Springer each scored on successive possessions at the rim. The Vikings managed to hit a pair of threes to stay within range, keeping it a three-point deficit at 23-20 with 7:26 to play in the first half.
 
After an Ahmir Ellzy alley-oop found Gabe Springer at the rim to make it 25-20, it looked like the Falcons might snatch momentum and start to pull away. The Falcons went on a 9-2 run to tighten their grip on the game at 34-22, highlighted by a good-looking three-point play from Brandon Scott with under four to go. But the Vikings would hit a quick 8-2 run of their own, forcing the Falcons to cling to a 36-30 lead at the break.
 
Lackawanna and Mercer would trade buckets early in the second half, but the Falcons transition game began to bother the Vikings, as Lackawanna grabbed a 44-33 lead at the 16:16 mark of the half. The Falcon lead would still be 11 at the 10:59 mark, when they led 52-41, but neither team had really made much of an offensive push, with free throws and fouls dominating the pace of play.
 
After a Mercer timeout, the Falcons ran a nice pick-and-roll with Brandon Scott and Gabe Springer, who finished with a flush to make it 54-41, but both teams got bogged right back down on offense for the next several minutes. The Falcons went 2-for-4 from the free throw line to take at 56-41 lead with just over eight minutes remaining, but a fall-away jumper broke a several minute scoring drought for the Vikings, and a few free throws brought them back within eleven.
 
Lackawanna College, despite some sloppy offense, would force a few more turnovers as they ramped up their defensive pressure, and a runner from Ahmir Ellzy gave them a 58-45 lead with over six to play, igniting a run from the Falcons where they would score on five straight possessions to make it 66-47 with four minutes to play, essentially putting the game out of reach for good.
 
With under a minute to go, Mercer would make one last push to get it to 72-59, but a Will Johnson transition lay-up, followed by a Gabe Springer offensive rebound, would all but seal it for the Falcons.
 
The Falcons grab their first win of the 2022 portion of their schedule, and improve their Region XIX record to 3-3. The next contest for Lackawanna College will be on Saturday, January 22^nd, when they host the Delaware Tech CC Terry Hawks in Region XIX play at the Lackawanna Student Union. The game will tip at 2:00pm ET, and will be the second game of a doubleheader, with the women's teams playing first at 12:00pm ET.