Box Score 2/1/22
 
BRANCHBURG, NJ – The Lackawanna College Men's Basketball team fought back from another deficit, as they have done throughout the '21-'22 campaign, and got within one possession of another ranked opponent, but it wasn't meant to be, as an Ahmir Ellzy three-to-tie missed at the buzzer, giving the Raritan Valley CC Lions an 86-83 win over the Falcons on Tuesday night in Region XIX play.
 
Ellzy had a team-high 23 points, one of four Falcon players in double-figures, and keyed a massive run for the Falcons late in the second half, where he scored six of the ten Falcon points in a run to cut the deficit to one with just over four minutes remaining. Lackawanna College (5-11, 3-4) had a few more chances to try to take the lead or tie the game, but the Lions clamped down defensively, and the Falcons couldn't hit that go-ahead shot. Lackawanna had one last chance with five seconds remaining, trailing by three, but the Ellzy shot hit the right side of the rim and bounced away, allowing NJCAA DII #20 Raritan Valley (14-4, 5-1) to escape with their second win of the year over Lackawanna College.
 
In addition to Ellzy's 23 points, the Falcons got 17 points from Will Johnson, 13 points from Jaylen Davis, who scored eleven of those in the second half, and 12 points from David Pope, who went 8-for-8 from the free throw line. In fact, as a team, Lackawanna College was 16-for-17 from the free throw line, but only got to the line seven times in the second half.
 
Things started slowly for both teams, with both offenses struggling with misses and turnovers. Clinging to a 5-3 lead at the 16:00 minute mark, the Lions found points with an Ahmad Robinson baseline jumper, which seemed to quicken the pace for both offenses. The Falcons would briefly hold an 8-7 lead after a Will Johnson three from the right corner, but Robinson, who finished with a game-high 37 points, stole a pass in the back court, got fouled, and headed to the line, where he'd hit a pair of free throws to re-take the lead for Raritan. He'd knock down another three off a turnover to make it 12-10, and the scoring would start to grow from there. Robinson scored 23 in the first half, including five three-pointers.
 
The Falcons would do their best to not let Raritan get too far out in front, using some timely defense to cut an eight-point deficit down to just two with ten minutes remaining, which is where it would pretty much stay for the rest of the half. Every time the Lions would start to get on a run, the Falcons would answer. With 1:20 to go in the half, and the Lions up 50-40, it looked like they might finally be pulling away, but Lackawanna answered with a 7-0 run to close the gap to three, just for Robinson to sink another bomb from deep just before the horn, making it 53-47 at the break.
 
Raritan raced out to a 60-51 lead about four minutes into the second half, and that's where the lead would hover around for the next ten minutes or so. The Lions would grow the lead to as much as eleven, and the Falcons would shrink it back to as little as five, but the deficit would yo-yo back and forth like that through most of the half.
 
After Ahmad Robinson sank a pair of free throws to make it 79-68, Lackawanna College went to work with just over six minutes remaining. Some patient ball movement found Ellzy in the left corner, where he promptly buried a three, igniting a quick 10-0 run for the Falcons. More swift ball movement found Ky'Ron Harbin on the right short corner, and he fired a no-look pass to a diving Jaylen Davis to cut it to six. After a big defensive stop, more good ball movement found Ellzy again, this time on the right wing, where he buried another three, which was then followed by a great defensive play from Will Johnson, who stole the ball near midcourt and raced to the bucket to cut it to 79-78 with 4:20 to go.
 
After a timeout, Raritan sandwiched a Lackawanna turnover with a pair of buckets to reclaim a five-point advantage, but another Ellzy three cut the lead to 83-81, with 3:19 to play. Twice, the Falcons came up with defensive stops, but twice they couldn't convert on the offensive side of the floor, allowing Raritan to regroup. The Lions would get three-of-four free throws from Robinson to take an 86-81 lead with 1:03 to play. The third crucial Falcon turnover in the last three minutes would give the ball back to the Lions, who wound the clock down, but turned the ball over themselves, allowing Brandon Scott to race to the rim and make it an 86-83 game with 13 seconds remaining. Raritan missed a pair of free throws, and the Falcons had a sideline inbound in the front court with just five seconds to go, setting up for the last desperation look from Ellzy.
 
Lackawanna College gets back to basketball action for the first of two straight home games on Thursday, February 3^rd, when they host CCBC Dundalk. That game is slated for a 7:00pm ET start from the Lackawanna Student Union.