12/9/23
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – For the second straight game, Lackawanna College erased a second half deficit with frenetic defense and timely shot-making, as the Falcons took an 82-65 victory at home against Middlesex County College on Saturday afternoon in a Region XIX Division II men's basketball contest at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
 
The Falcons (5-7, 3-2) were down eight points early in the second half, but used full-court pressure to start speeding the Colts up, forcing quick shots and turnovers. That frantic defense got the Falcons out and running for what became a 53-point second half for the home side, as Lackawanna shot 54% and hit all nine of its second half free throws.
After trailing by six at the break, and down eight just three minutes into the second half, the Falcons began to turn the screws up defensively, using a quick 7-0 burst to close the gap to one, briefly taking the lead on an offensive put-back, and tying the game on an and-one at 45-all with 12:38 to go.
 
The Colts (9-3, 3-2) lengthened that lead back out to 50-45 with 11:48 to go, but what followed was a seven-minute span where the Falcons outscored their opponents 30-8. In that run, the Falcons tied the game at 52 when Aamir Mack (Sophomore; Atlantic City, NJ) feinted as if he was setting a screen on the right wing, then slipped to the basket, where Joey Chapman (Sophomore; Reading, PA) fed him for a one-handed slam, plus the foul. The subsequent free throw made it 53-52, Falcons, a lead that Lackawanna never surrender. The margin got to double-digits a few minutes later when Mack found a darting Niare Poplar (Sophomore; Philadelphia, PA) underneath for a lay-up, the first two points of eight straight for the lanky forward, as Poplar hit back-to-back three-pointers on subsequent possessions to put Lackawanna up by its largest margin at 75-58 with 4:10 to play.
 
All-in-all, the Falcons got 27 points and eight rebounds from Mack, while Poplar went for 26 points, 21 in the second half, and eight rebounds. Poplar hit five three-pointers, four in the second half, and the Falcons forced eleven second half turnovers and scored eleven points as a result. Mason Lawson (Sophomore; Boston, MA) had nine points and a team-best four steals, while Chapman added eight points and four assists.
 
Middlesex was led by Saivon Pressley's eleven points, while Noah Taylor added ten points off the bench.
 
The win is the second straight victory for the Falcons, and their third in four games. They have one more Region XIX DII game on the docket before the end of the semester, and that is scheduled for Tuesday, December 12^th, when the Falcons are set to host the Titans of the County College of Morris. Tip is scheduled for 6:00pm ET inside the Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.