1/7/23
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – After nearly a month away from action, the Lackawanna College men's basketball team needed to get off on the right foot to start 2023. The Falcons did just that, shooting 46% from the field and putting four players in double-figures to pull off an impressive home win over the Cecil College Seahawks, 85-78, on Saturday afternoon in the Lackawanna College Student Union.
 
The Falcons (9-3) were led by Aamir Mack (Atlantic City, NJ), who set season-highs in points (22) and rebounds (10) for his first double-double of the year, all off the bench. Nasir Brown (Wilmington, DE) added 15 points and four rebounds, while Malek Mims (Bethlehem, PA) and Caleb Mims (Bethlehem, PA) added 17 and 13 points, respectively, for the Falcons. Lackawanna College shot 46% for the game, and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the second half. The Falcons outrebounded Cecil 49-to-39, and forced the Seahawks into 20 turnovers.
 
Cecil College (9-7) was led by Vernon Simmons, who scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed ten rebounds. Jordan Strickland also had a double-double, with ten points and eleven boards, while Frank Toney had 14 points and Dominick Carrington added 13. The Seahawks were just 9-for-34 from downtown, and went 3-for-12 from the free throw line, including 1-for-8 in the second half.
 
Lackawanna College fell behind early at 9-3, but a three-point shot from Nasir Brown sparked the Falcons on a 15-2 run to take a lead they'd never surrender. The Seahawks led 11-10 after a Malek Mims lay-up with 16:32 to go, but a Falcon steal, followed by a Mims three, gave the Falcons the lead for good at 13-11. Another three, this time by Nashawn Johnson, ballooned the lead to 16-11, and a Brown lay-up, after a Cecil turnover, made it 18-11 at the 13:55 mark.
 
The Falcons stretched their lead to 39-21, with 13 of their points in that run coming from Aamir Mack off the bench, with about 4:40 to play in the half. Mack at one point scored ten straight points, and the Lackawanna defense was forcing turnovers and getting out in transition to score, despite Nasir Brown's absence because of foul trouble.
 
Seven straight points followed from Cecil to begin to tighten the gap, and the Seahawks scored eight points in a minute of game-time to make it 41-36 with just over 40 seconds to go, but neither team would score to end the half.
 
The Falcon defense, which had looked a little worn down at the end of the first half, bounced back to start the second, fueling the Falcons on a 10-4 spurt to make it 51-40 just over four minutes into the second half. But Cecil hit the gas again, this time on the back of three straight three-pointers, two from Dominick Carrington, to make it 51-49 with 14:40 to play, with the Falcons clinging to their lead.
 
Lackawanna and Cecil would trade baskets back-and-forth over the next few minutes, with the Falcons trying desperately to maintain the lead. A Cecil jumper in the lane tied things up at 56 with just over 12 minutes to go, and for the next two-and-a-half minutes, every time the Falcons took the lead back, the Seahawks tied it back up.
 
That happened until the 9:40 mark of the second half, when Malek Mims hit a three-pointer, his second straight, to put Lackawanna back up 66-63. After Cecil went 1-for-2 from the line on the following possession, a twisting shot from Mims in the paint made it 68-64, Falcons.
 
After a Lackawanna timeout and a missed jumper from Cecil, it was Caleb Mims' turn, as he rocketed into the front court and went up at the rim, getting pummeled from behind, but making the shot and hitting the ensuing free throw to put the Falcons ahead at 71-64 with 8:56 to play.
 
Later, with just over seven minutes to go and Lackawanna holding a 72-66 advantage, Brandon Scott (Cheltenham, PA) got the ball in the middle of the defense, dropped his shoulder and drove with his left-hand to the basket, taking the contact and converting the lay-up, and the subsequent free throw, to put Lackawanna up 75-66.
 
Cecil wasn't done, however, as the Seahawks used an 8-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to close the gap to just one, at 75-74, with 3:34 to play. The Falcons responded, thanks to a Brown lay-up, followed by a turnover and a Mack lay-up, which put them up 79-74. Mack would score a few more buckets, and Malek Mims hit two big free throws to put the game away down the stretch, as the Falcons earned a big win at home in non-region play.
 
Next up for Lackawanna College is a home date with Region XIX foe County College of Morris. The Titans beat the Falcons twice last season. The game is set for a 7:00pm ET tip-off inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gym on Wednesday, January 11^th. It's the second game of a doubleheader, with the women's teams tipping at 5:00pm ET. It's Gun Violence Awareness Night, with programs bringing attention to the epidemic of gun violence happening throughout the evening.