1/27/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team hung tough for 40 minutes against the undefeated and 11^th ranked Colts, and had an eight-point lead with 6:05 to play, but the Falcons couldn't hang on, and SUNY Orange survived, 84-77, on Thursday night at the Lackawanna Student Union.
 
The Falcons (5-10), after trailing 60-49 with 11:56 to play, used a 21-2 run over the next 5:51 of game time to recapture the lead at 70-62 with an emphatic Jaylen Davis three-point play. Even with the crowd rocking, the Colts (13-0) calmly went on a 22-7 run to close the game, using their defense to force bad shots and turnovers, and getting out in transition on offense to score at the rim. SUNY Orange shot 48% for the contest, 11 percentage points below their usual output, but still put four players in double-figures. The Colts were led by Romeo Aquino's game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Darius Boben chipped in 17 points off the bench.
 
Meanwhile, the Falcons had four of their own in double-figures, including a team-high 19 points from the returning Jaylen Davis, but Lackawanna was just 3-for-15 from deep in the second half, and couldn't quite find the bucket they needed in the last minute of the contest. David Pope was second on the team with 18 points, and the also-returning Daryl Coleman chipped in 16 points. Will Johnson scored 14 points and dished out seven assists.
 
The Falcons came out with fire right out of the gate, as Will Johnson found a cutting Gabe Springer to make it 2-0 just 18 seconds in. After the teams traded buckets, a pair of back-to-back threes from Pope and Davis brought the crowd into it, and then Pope and Will Johnson hit two more, making it 16-12 Falcons with 13:50 to play in the first. It was all part of a half in which the Falcons shot 55% from the floor, and the start of a 19-7 run for Lackawanna College that would give them a 23-13 lead at the midway point of the half, forcing a timeout from the Colts.
 
Out of the timeout, and after an Orange bucket, Pope would hit another three, giving the Falcons their largest lead of the night at 26-15. The Colts would answer with an 8-2 run to cut it to 28-23 with 6:58 to play in the half, but a pair of Daryl Coleman buckets, sandwiching another score from SUNY Orange, made it 32-25 Falcons with 6:08 to go. A Davis jumper would make it 34-25 Falcons at the 5:26 mark, but a 9-0 SUNY Orange run in just two minutes would knot things at 34-all. Neither team could break away from the other, as a Will Johnson three to make it 40-37 was answered with a tying three by the Colts, evening the score at 40-all for the half.
 
Both teams struggled in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half, with a free throw for SUNY Orange the only points scored until a steal led to a lay-up on the other end to make it 43-40, Colts, with 16:31 to go. At the 14:37 mark, and with the game tied at 47, it looked like SUNY Orange would start to make its move, as Kevin Stein buried a long three, igniting a 13-2 run for the Colts that ended with an emphatic two-handed slam from Romeo Aquino, giving Orange a 60-49 lead with 11:56 to go.
 
The Falcons fought back, as a few empty possessions for both sides led to an offensive rebound and foul, putting Gabe Springer on the line down 11. Springer sank one of two free throws, but that kick-started the Falcons on their 21-2 run that would alter the game's trajectory. After an offensive foul on one end gave the ball back to Lackawanna College, Davis converted on a three-point play to bring the crowd back into it. Another good defensive possession led to a Will Johnson runner dropping, and then a rushed shot for the Colts led to Ahmir Ellzy hitting a leaner high off the glass to make it a three-point deficit with 9:10 to go, and the Student Union in a frenzy. A turnover from the Colts resulted in points for the Falcons, as Will Johnson buried a three to level the game once again, this time at 60-all, with 8:38 to play.
 
The run continued for the Falcons, when a pair of Davis free throws gave them the lead, and then a Davis dunk on a nifty pass from Pope made it 64-60, with the crowd rocking. Another Colts turnover led to a three-pointer from Daryl Coleman, giving the Falcons a 67-60 lead with 6:45 to go. SUNY Orange finally got a bucket when Romeo Aquino grabbed an offensive board and put it in, but the Falcons answered immediately, when Davis got to the bucket, scored through contact, and completed another three-point play to make it 70-62 Falcons with 6:05 to go.
 
A high-flying hook shot from Tim Linton on the ensuing possession gave the Colts a little jolt, and a Darius Boben three-point play made it 70-67, Falcons in front, with 4:41 to go. Davis scored on the other end off a missed three, but Kevin Stein hit a jumper, followed by another offensive rebound and score from Aquino to make it 72-71, Falcons still ahead, with 3:34 to play.
 
Another empty Falcon possession resulted in Boben scoring on a quick transition bucket, giving SUNY Orange the lead, and yet another Falcon miss did the same thing, only with Nicholas Molina scoring to make it 75-72, Colts in front, with 2:28 to play. A Daryl Coleman three tied things up with just over two minutes to play, and a tear-drop runner from Will Johnson a minute later kept the Falcons within a point at 78-77 with 1:06 to play, but the Colts ran the clock down on their ensuing possession, and Kevin Stein hit a back-breaking three from the left wing to make it 81-77. The Falcons missed a shot on the other end, and the Colts were able to hit a free throw, and then a lay-up just before the horn, to walk away the victors.
 
The Falcons will have to recover quickly, with their next game coming on Saturday, January 29^th. Lackawanna College is scheduled, weather permitting, to travel to Essex County College to face the Wolverines in a key Region XIX match-up. It'll be the second game of a scheduled doubleheader, with the women's teams set to play first at 1:00pm ET. The men's game will follow at 3:00pm ET. The Falcons won their first meeting with Essex, 87-83, at the Lackawanna Student Union back in November.