2/12/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Five days after dropping a 34-point loss to Monroe College, the Lackawanna College Falcons went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs, taking the NJCAA Division I foes to the wire, before falling in double overtime, 103-95, on Saturday afternoon at the Lackawanna Student Union.  
 
The Falcons (6-15) held late leads at the end of both the second half and first overtime, but both situations ended with Monroe College finding the game-tying bucket before time could run out. In double overtime, a gassed Falcon squad couldn't keep things going, and the Mustangs (22-6) were able to escape with the win.
 
Lackawanna College shot 47% for the game, and outrebounded Monroe 46-38, but the Falcons were just 7-for-27 from downtown, and committed 22 turnovers, resulting in 23 points for the Mustangs. Lackawanna College had three players in double-figures, including a season-high 31 points and 14 rebounds for Jaylen Davis, along with 18 points from Nashawn Johnson, in double-figures for the second straight game. Ahmir Ellzy added 13 points and six boards, and Will Johnson had seven points and a team-high six assists, along with three steals.
 
The Falcons held an early lead, up 7-4 after about three minutes of play in first half, thanks to a pair of buckets from Davis and a three-ball from Ellzy that started the scoring. Monroe College, as they so often do, would hit back with a 12-0 scoring run over the next three minutes to take a 16-7 lead with 13:51 to play. The teams would trade points over the next few minutes, with the Falcons fighting to keep things under ten. The Mustang lead reached a high of 12 after a David Gordon three made it 26-14 with 8:22 to go in the first, and would touch 12 a few more times in the half, coincidentally, after a few more Gordon buckets, including 39-27 with just over four minutes to go in the half.
 
From there, Jaylen Davis would score six straight to get the Falcons back within striking distance, all part of a 14-3 run by the Falcons, who briefly held a lead before a Jerald Campbell lay-up before the horn made it 42-41 Monroe at the break. Davis scored ten of the 14 points for the Falcons during that run to get Lackawanna back in it.
 
The second half saw some incredible basketball from both sides, as the Falcons used a 7-0 spurt to take an early 48-42 lead, only for Monroe to answer and cut it to two. The teams would once again start trading buckets, but it was now the Falcons who kept answering with big scores. In a sequence that typified the second half, the Falcons led 53-50 with 16:19 to go, three straight buckets from Nashawn Johnson, Daryl Coleman, and Jaylen Davis made it 59-50, Falcons, with just over 15 minutes to go. Almost as quickly, the Mustangs went on an 8-0 run to close within one in just over two minutes.
 
Past the midway point of the half, Melvin Council Jr., who scored a game-high 35 points, got a bucket in the lane to make it 63-all with 9:45 to play. Jaylen Davis would answer with a basket to give the Falcons the lead back, only for Council to answer to tie it up again. Almost as quickly, Davis again scored to put the Falcons in front, followed by an Ellzy runner to make it 69-65 with 7:34 to play. The teams continued to trade buckets, with the score stuck at 71-69 with 6:47 to play. A tense two-minute stretch would follow, with both teams defending hard, while searching for offense on the other end. Jayle Davis would score after an offensive rebound to give the Falcons a four-point lead, and Ellzy added another jumper to take a 75-69 advantage with 4:14 to go in the second half, only for Davis to follow with another bucket, giving the Falcons an eight-point lead with 3:34 to go.
 
Monroe would hit a quick 6-0 run to get it within two with 1:48 to play, but a three-ball by Daryl Coleman from the top-of-the-key sent the Student Union in a frenzy, putting the Falcons ahead by five with 59 seconds remaining in the half. Council Jr., would answer with a score in the lane, and, after a good defensive possession that resulted in an off-balance shot from the Falcons, the Mustangs had the ball with 12 seconds remaining, down three. A double-screen from the top resulted in the Falcons scrambling to defend, leaving Keith Warren Jr. time to leak out to the left corner, where he buried a three-pointer with under five seconds to go to tie the game. The Falcons couldn't do anything on the ensuing possession, sending the game to overtime.
 
The Falcons started quickly, as Nashawn Johnson hit a three to re-take the lead for Lackawanna College just thirty seconds in. Monroe finally got the lead, their first since halftime, after an offensive rebound and put-back by Hamdel Mohammed, with 3:07 to go, but Jaylen Davis hit another big shot, this time a three, to give the Falcons the two-point lead. After some missed free throws from the Mustangs, Gabe Springer grabbed a missed three-ball and put it back up and in, giving the Falcons a four-point lead with just two minutes to play in the first overtime. The Falcons played frantic defense to force a miss, but turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, which the Mustangs turned into points thanks to another Warren Jr. three, bringing the deficit to just one point with 1:07 to play. A few misses from both teams eventually resulted in Mohammed on the line with 41 seconds to go, where he went 1-for-2 to tie the game. Lackawanna looked to be running out of time on offense, when a Will Johnson prayer from the left wing banked home for three with ten seconds remaining, giving the Falcons a 91-88 lead and bringing the crowd to its collective feet.
 
The Falcons elected to foul, instead of letting the Mustangs get a shot off, putting Keith Warren Jr. on the line to shoot two with four seconds remaining. He sank his first free throw, but missed his second, and the Falcons looked to have secured the rebound as time expired, but the officials whistled the Falcons for a travel as Gabe Springer fell down after securing the rebound, giving the ball back to Monroe with one second remaining. The Mustangs executed a stellar out-of-bounds play underneath their own basket to find Mohammed, who scored at the rim to tie things up and send it to the second OT.
 
The Falcons suffered a set-back almost immediately in the second OT, when Jaylen Davis was whistled for an offensive foul, his fifth of the game, forcing him to the bench. Without their leading scorer, the Falcons struggled on offense, only scoring points from Will Johnson's four free throws. His second pair made it 97-95, Mustangs, with 2:04 to play, but the Falcons just didn't have enough legs left to stick with Monroe. A Tyje Kelton lay-up made it 99-95, and Council Jr. sank a pair of free throws after a Will Johnson three missed long. The Falcons had one more chance to cut it to three after a turnover, but Nashawn Johnson's corner three missed, and a Keith Warren Jr. lay-up on the other end gave the Mustangs their 103-95 win.
 
Lackawanna College will have to rebound quickly, as the Falcons turn their attention now to their last regular season Region XIX game against Essex County College, on the road, on Monday, February 14^th. The Falcons need to win that game to remain in the playoff picture for the Region XIX tournament. That game is set for a 7:00pm ET tip-off, and will be the second game of a doubleheader, with the women's game tipping first at 5:00pm ET.