1/6/21
 
NORTH EAST, MD – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team traveled to take on the NJCAA Division II #15 team in the nation, Cecil College, in the first game of 2022 for either squad. The Seahawks had four players in double-figures, shot an efficient 45% from the field, and forced 12 steals to help them to a dominating 90-53 victory over the Falcons. 
 
Lackawanna College (4-6) was missing four key rotation players on the evening, including three starters, so the line-up was shuffled around as David Pope, Nashawn Johnson, and Jakob Curnow all got their first starts of the season, while Magd Abdelwahab started his second straight contest. Pope tied his season-high with a team-leading 16 points, knocking down four three-pointers and pulling down six rebounds. Will Johnson scored 15 points, hitting double-figures for the fifth straight game, while dishing out four assists and grabbing five rebounds of his own.  
 
The Falcons had a tough shooting night, going just 31% from the field for the game, and just 21% from beyond-the-arc, including a 1-for-11 showing in the second half. The Falcons were outrebounded by a 53-38 margin, and committed 19 turnovers against the Seahawks defense. Cecil College (10-1) outscored Lackawanna 20-8 on points off turnovers, while dominating in the paint with a 54-to-28 points advantage.
 
The Falcons and Seahawks traded points early, with Pope scoring eleven of the first 13 points by Lackawanna College, which held a 13-12 advantage at the 14:33 mark of the first half. A Will Johnson lay-up made it 15-14 Lackawanna at the 13:38 mark, which would be the last lead of the game for the Falcons.
 
A Nashawn Johnson lay-up would make it 17-all at the 12:43 mark, and the Falcons would overcome a 7-0 run to make it 24-22 at the 8:45 mark of the first half, thanks to a three-point shot from Brandon Scott. That would be the closest the Falcons would get the rest of the way, as the Seahawks closed on a 20-7 run to take a 44-29 lead at the half. The Falcons missed a few opportunities to tie or take the lead, and Cecil made them pay, forcing seven turnovers over the rest of the half, while the Falcons shot just 3-for-14 from the field.
 
The second half started with a 10-0 run from Cecil to push their lead to 54-29, coinciding with a nearly four-and-a-half-minute scoring drought for Lackawanna College. It was emblematic of the second half for the Falcons, who shot just 27% from the field, and were 1-for-11 from downtown.
 
The road ahead doesn't get any easier for the Falcons, as they travel to Bryn Mawr, PA on Tuesday, January 11^th, to take on the NJCAA Division I #11 team in the nation, the Harcum College Bears. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm ET, and the game will be streamed live on the Harcum Athletics YouTube channel.