11/5/22   
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Fresh off an impressive season-opening victory, the Lackawanna College men's basketball team gets back down to Maryland to see if they can keep the moment rolling with a pair of games this weekend at the CCBC Dundalk 2022 Mixer.
 
The Falcons will first take on the host CCBC Dundalk Lions on Saturday, November 5^th at 6:00pm ET at CCBC Dundalk's gymnasium. Then, on Sunday November 6^th, the Falcons play the Baltimore City Community College Panthers at 4:00pm ET. All games will have a video livestream available via the CCBC Dundalk YouTube channel HERE.
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (1-0) enter the game after an impressive 72-44 opening night victory on the road at CCBC Catonsville. In that contest, Lackawanna put the clamps on the Cardinals, opening the game on a 21-2 run behind the strength of their aggressive defense. The Falcon lead never dipped below double-digits, and Lackawanna was able to cruise to victory the rest of the way. Three players were in double-figures for Lackawanna College, which included Nasir Brown (Wilmington, DE) and Aamir Mack (Atlantic City, NJ) each scoring 17 points. Caleb Mims (Bethlehem, PA) had eleven points, while Nashawn Johnson (Bronx, NY) came off the bench to score seven points and grab eight rebounds. Eleven of 13 Falcons who saw action scored. You can read the recap HERE.
 
Lackawanna College went 8-17 last season, playing an up-and-down year where several of their losses came in games where the Falcons held a second half lead but couldn't keep it. Lackawanna College lost a lot of its firepower from last year, with its top five scorers all moving on, but the Falcons do return Nashawn Johnson (Bronx, NY), one of the Falcons best players down the stretch last season, and an All-Region XIX selection the year before that, helping the Falcons to a Region XIX championship, their first since 2012.
 
Last year, an injury kept Johnson from being 100% in the early parts of last season, but his numbers jumped as the season progressed, to where he was averaging 13.8 points per game in his last six games, scoring in double-figures on four different occasions, including his season-high of 25 points vs. SUNY Sullivan. Johnson scored four points and grabbed eight rebounds against Dundalk last season in a loss at home.
 
Another returner is guard Brandon Scott (Cheltenham, PA), a quick, athletic guard with great jumping ability and a strong defensive work ethic. Scott primarily came off the bench last season for the Falcons, starting a handful of games in the middle of the year for the Falcons. Scott averaged six points per game and scored in double-figures three times, including a season-high 16 points on the road at Harcum College. Scott had four points, three rebounds, and two assists against Dundalk last year. He had just a point and four rebounds in 14 minutes of action against Catonsville, battling foul trouble throughout the game.
 
Also back is Kameron Bannister (Woodbridge, VA), a lanky guard/forward who can be a hard-nosed defender. Bannister has only played sparingly in his career as a Falcon, but is ready to step up and be a key contributor to the Lackawanna College squad in the '22-'23 campaign. Bannister came off the bench against Catonsville in the first game this season, scoring two points and grabbing three boards in just ten minutes of work. He didn't see the floor against the Lions of Dundalk last year.  
 
While he was technically on the team last season, Rahmad Ali (Newark, NJ) had to spend all of it watching on the sidelines while recovering from a major injury. Now, a year later, Ali says he's "110%" healed, and ready to provide what could be that extra spark for the Falcons this year. Ali had six points, six rebounds, two steals, and two assists in 26 minutes of action against Catonsville.
 
Some of the newer faces expected to make immediate contributions include: Nasir Brown (Wilmington, DE), a fiery point guard who transferred in from Lincoln University; Caleb and Malek Mims (Bethlehem, PA), twin guards from the Lehigh Valley with lightning quick speed and a ton of potential; Joey Chapman (Reading, PA), an impressive guard who can pile up points in a hurry, and helped the Reading Red Knights to a PIAA Class 6A state championship a few seasons ago; Julian Wilson (Williamsport, PA), a massive 6-8 center who came from the Falcon football team, but who also won a PIAA championship; and Aamir Mack (Atlantic City, NJ), a 6-5 forward with shooting ability. Both Mack and Caleb Mims were perfect on the evening, each going 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
 
In his third season in charge, Landon Gabriel returns to the sidelines to lead the Falcons. Gabriel, who spent ten seasons coaching at Carbondale Area HS in the rough and tumble Lackawanna League, feels like this can be a season of positive momentum for the Falcons, where, now with his first true recruiting class, he can really implement the high-tempo defense and energy he wants to see from his squad. Gabriel is a King's College graduate, where he played for the Monarchs, after graduating from Carbondale Area HS before that.
 
About CCBC Dundalk
The Lions haven't played yet this season, and, after the game with the Falcons, they're scheduled to play Atlantis University on Sunday at 6:00pm ET. Last year's squad was 11-17 on the year, and had lost six in a row before coming to Scranton and beating the Falcons in a comeback win, 67-61.
 
The Lions have just three sophomores on this year's team, and only one who saw minutes last season. Chukwuma Aduaka saw time in 14 games last year, an average of just over five minutes per appearance, and scored 0.7 points per game in that time. Otherwise, it's all new faces for the Lions this year.
 
Speaking of new faces, Byron King is the head coach, entering his first season at the helm with Dundalk. King's first roster is Maryland heavy, with just one player from outside the state. King took over last month when former coach Jaron Taylor stepped down after nine seasons to take a job with Gulf Coast State College in Florida. King is a Syracuse, NY native who played basketball at North Country CC and eventually went to and graudated from Morgan State University. King has coached at Catonsville, Baltimore City CC, and now Dundalk.
 
About Baltimore City CC
The Panthers (1-0) got things started with the Dundalk Mixer on Friday evening, taking down Mount Zion Prep win a 92-80 victory in CCBC Dundalk's gymnasium.
 
The Panthers program was revived with the hiring of head coach Thelanious Prioleau back in February of last season. Prioleau was charged with restarting a program with a championship pedigree, but that had been dormant since the pandemic cut short the 2019-2020 season. Prioleau is a Charm City native who graduated from Western School of Technology and Environmental Science in Maryland. He played in the CCBC system, then went on to play for Central State University in Ohio. While There, he earned a bachelor's degree in Recreation at Central State. He began coaching at Wilson College, then found his way back to CCBC where he coached women's basketball for three years. He's now 1-0 with the revamped Panthers.
 
The Match-Up
The Falcons will first take on the host CCBC Dundalk Lions on Saturday, November 5^th at 6:00pm ET at CCBC Dundalk's gymnasium. Then, on Sunday November 6^th, the Falcons play the Baltimore City Community College Panthers at 4:00pm ET. All games will have a video livestream available via the CCBC Dundalk YouTube channel HERE.
 
The next game for the Falcons will be a tough test against one of the top teams in the NJCAA Division II, when they make the long trip to Loch Sheldrake to take on the #3 SUNY Sullivan Generals. Game time is set for 7:00pm ET on Thursday November 10^th, inside the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse.