Box Score 2/14/22
 
NEWARK, NJ – Jakira Coar scored 17 first quarter points for Essex County College, helping the Wolverines build a lead they would never relinquish over the Falcons, winning 75-68 on Monday night in Region XIX play. The win gives Essex the season sweep over Lackawanna College, while also solidifying their claim to the #2 seed in the Region XIX playoffs. The Falcons, despite the loss, are still the #4 seed.
 
Lackawanna College (8-10, 3-5) was outscored 23-13 in the first quarter, Coar scoring 17 of those 23 points for the Wolverines. The Falcons worked hard to get back to in the game, but the closest they could get was 61-57 early in the fourth quarter. Essex (14-6, 6-4) would go on a 7-0 run to re-gain control, stretching the lead back out and giving them just enough cushion to grab the win.
 
Coar finished the game with 36 points, scoring 25 in the first half alone. Chloe Cassidy added 17 for Essex. Nya Morris finished with 25 points to lead the Falcons, scoring 14 in the fourth quarter. Gabrielle Jackson added 12 points for Lackawanna College.
 
A Coar three opened the scoring just a few seconds into the game, while a Gabby Jackson triple tied things up with 9:42 to go in the first. The Wolverines would go on a 9-0 run over the next 6:21 of game time, setting Essex up with a 12-3 lead with 3:21 to play in the first. Every time it looked like the Falcons might get back into things, Coar would hit a three-pointer to stretch the lead back out, helping Essex to a 23-13 lead at the end of one.
 
The Falcons went nearly two-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter before getting Nya Morris on the scoresheet, but managed to start to find their offense. Lackawanna, thanks to a three-pointer from Daeja Cromartie, had it within five at 31-26 with 4:27 to play in the second, but a Coar free throw, followed eight seconds later by a three-pointer, helped Essex eventually stretch the lead back out to double-digits, leading 41-31 at halftime.
 
An Ashante Amos three got the third off to a promising start for the Falcons, and Lackawanna was able to get things to within four at 47-43 with 5:31 to go in the third, thanks to another Amos three-ball. Essex responded, however, with a killer 12-2 run in the last five minutes, holding the Falcons without a field goal over the last 3:46. That would put the Wolverines up 59-45 after three.
 
The Falcons would make one last run, opening the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run to close within 61-57 with just over six-and-a-half minutes to play. Nya Morris was responsible for ten of those Falcon points, but the Falcons fell victim to another ill-timed scoring drought, going nearly four minutes between points, while Essex regained control with a seven-point scoring run to make it 68-57.  That cushion was enough to help Wolverines hang on for the win.
 
The loss sends Lackawanna College to 3-5 in Region XIX play, with one more game remaining on the schedule. The Falcons will play at Harcum College on Wednesday, February 16^th, in their final Region XIX game. The Lady Bears knocked off the Falcons 66-50 back on February 3^rd at the Lackawanna Student Union in their previous meeting.