Box Score 11/18/24
 
NEWARK, NJ – Lackawanna men's basketball saw a double-digit lead evaporate down to two possessions with about six minutes remaining, but the Falcons did enough down the stretch to defeat Essex County College, 87-80, on Tuesday night in Region XIX DII men's basketball action at Essex.
 
The Falcons (6-3, 1-0) were down in the first half, and trailed 28-27 with a little over 3:30 left before halftime, but a steal led to an eventual corner three-point bucket from Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA) that gave Lackawanna the lead with 3:22 to go. That bucket was the match that lit the fuse, as the Falcons closed the half on an impressive 17-6 run to lead 44-34 at the break. Some highlights included a Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA) three-pointer, a Laybourn-Boddie step-back midrange jumper, and another Laybourn-Boddie step-back, this time from up to for a three.
 
In the second half, the Falcons extended their advantage out to 18 at 63-45, thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Laybourn-Boddie and Shawnn Smith (Philadelphia, PA) with under 14 minutes to go. Essex (0-5, 0-1) started to apply some pressure, and eventually climbed back into the game, getting it to within five points with 8:18 left in the half. The Wolverines got things to within 70-66 with under six minutes to play, but Marabito hit a three that bounced high off the rim and dropped in to get Lackawanna the seven-point advantage. Marabito hit a runner with under five minutes to go off a deflected pass that made it a nine-point lead at 75-66, and Smith scored on a breakaway with just over four minutes to go that pushed the lead back out to double-digits at 77-66. The closest Essex would get the rest of the way would be the seven-point margin at the end of the game.
 
Laybourn-Boddie was the high scorer with 26 points, while Marabito added 21 and Smith put up 18. Lackawanna College will next take on the Division I #25 team in the land, the Harcum College Bears, on Thursday, November 21^st, at 7:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. The game is the second of a doubleheader on Thursday in Scranton, with the women's teams tipping first at 5:00pm ET.