1/11/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – In need of a bounce back performance, the Lackawanna College men's basketball team got a big boost from its bench and used a hot-shooting second half to pull away from SUNY Rockland CC for a 90-76 non-region win in the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Falcons (9-9) shot 58.8% from the floor in the second half and outscored the Hawks 58-38 on the bench. A big part of that was sophomore Zykir Williams (Philadelphia, PA) putting up a team-high 19 points and six rebounds in his first appearance of the year. Joining Williams was first-year guard Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA), who scored 17 points and dished out a season-best eleven assists off the bench.
 
The first half was a slog for both teams, as the first bucket only came when Rockland (10-5) hit a three-pointer a little over two-and-a-half minutes into the contest. The key run came for the Falcons with under eleven to go, leading 11-10. Williams scored on a break-away to push the Lackawanna lead out to 13-10, then Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA) scored five straight points on a lay-up and a three-pointer, gifting the Falcons an 18-10 advantage with under ten to play in the half. The lead in the first half grew as large as 12, but the Hawks fought back, using three three-pointers and some foul-shooting to get it to within 37-31 at halftime.
 
The key run for the Falcons came to open the second half. Tyrick Moy (Williamsport, PA) scored on a nifty slip screen, then Noah McIntosh (Philadelphia, PA) hit a three-pointer in the corner on the next possession to make it 42-31, Falcons, just a minute into the half. Rockland hit a free throw, and both teams struggled to get the offense going until Laybourn-Boddie forced a turnover, quickly got the ball into the front court, and fed Williams for a slam that made it 44-32 with 17 minutes to go. Five straight points from the Hawks got it to 44-37, but another dunk from Williams on a feed from Laybourn-Boddie extended the lead back out to nine. Nine was as close as it would get the rest of the way, as the Falcons slowly pulled away for victory.
 
The game itself was a sloppy affair, with a combined 53 fouls and 75 free throws between the two squads. Aside from Williams and Laybourn-Boddie having good games, Jireej Cole (Bronx, NY) scored seven points and had eight rebounds, while Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD) had four points, six boards, and five assists. Rockland was led by Abijah Miller's game-high 26 points off the bench. Tyler Lingham added 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Falcons get back to Region XIX DII play on Tuesday, January 14^th, when they host the Essex County College Wolverines. Lackawanna defeated Essex, 87-80, in the first meeting back on November 19th. Tuesday's game is set for a 7:00pm ET start inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium, and will be the second of a doubleheader, with the women's teams playing first at 5:00pm ET.