11/21/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Saraiah Franklin scored 13 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and Lackawanna College handed #13 Harcum College a 76-72 upset in NJCAA Region XIX DII women's basketball action inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium on Thursday evening.
 
The Falcons (5-2, 2-0) trailed 51-50 at the start of the fourth after Harcum (4-3, 1-2) hit a three-pointer just before the horn to end the third quarter. A three-point play made it 54-50 just 30 seconds into the fourth, but Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) responded with a three-point play of her own to bring Lackawanna back within a point.
 
A few minutes later, the Falcons took the lead at 7:58 to go, when Alania Ortiz (Allentown, PA) canned a three in the corner to make it 58-56, Lackawanna. That started a 10-2 run that made it 65-58, Falcons, with five minutes to go, highlighted by a Jayla South (Long Pond, PA) bucket, a Franklin three-pointer, and two free throws from Semaji Young (Philadelphia, PA).
 
Harcum used its own 9-2 run to tie the game with 3:33 to play, then hit a three-pointer with under two minutes to go to reclaim the lead at 70-67, but then it was Saraiah Franklin time. Franklin scored the next six points, including the go-ahead bucket with 39 seconds to play to make it 73-72, Falcons. That lead grew when a steal led to a lay-up by Ortiz that made it 75-72 with 16 seconds left, and Harcum failed to answer back, as Franklin split a pair of free throws with three seconds left to ice the game and the upset.
 
It marked the end of a wild game that saw Harcum lose a nine-point first half lead, and then saw Lackawanna blow a seven-point lead in the third quarter to fall behind by a point entering the fourth. The Falcons shot 39.1% from the floor, but did its damage in the fourth, shooting 50% from the field (8-for-16) and going 8-for-11 from the free throw line. The Falcons outrebounded Harcum 44-to-40, and forced 18 turnovers, overcoming the 24 they committed. Harcum shot 32.8% for the game, but a rough third (3-for-15) paved the way for Lackawanna's comeback and eventual win.
 
Franklin had 23 points and eleven rebounds for the double-double, while her sister Salote Franklin (Philadelphia, PA) battled foul trouble and still put up 13 points and eleven boards. Ania Crocker (Freeport, NY) had 15 points and nine rebounds, and South overcame a poor shooting performance to put up 12 points and four boards.
 
The win gives Lackawanna its first victory over Harcum since April of 2021. The Falcons have now won three of their last four games, and will get back to action on Saturday, November 23^rd, with a Region XIX DII match-up on the road against Delaware Tech CC. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm ET inside the DTCC gymnasium on the Stanton Campus in Newark, DE.