1/14/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – One of the worst stretches of offensive basketball this season threatened to derail Lackawanna College men's basketball at home on Tuesday night against Essex County College, but a pair of sophomores closed strong over the final eight minutes of game time, and Lackawanna pulled out a big 76-72 win in Region XIX Division II play in the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA) hit three straight baskets in a minute of game time, while Jireej Cole (Bronx, NY) went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in crunch time to help steer the Falcons (10-9, 3-4) to victory. Marabito led the Falcons with 17 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, while Cole scored 13 points and had eleven boards. Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA) overcame a tough shooting night to score 14 points for the win.
 
Lackawanna seemed in control in the second half, leading the visitors 48-41 with 15:23 to play. Essex (3-13, 2-5), which has been snakebitten all season in close games, quickly countered and went on a sensational 20-5 run over the next nine minutes of game time, suffocating the Lackawanna offense and slowly pulling away to take an eight-point lead at the 6:23 mark.
 
Needing a spark out of a timeout, Marabito hit Cole on a slip screen lay-up to make it 61-55, Wolverines. A miss on the defensive side led to a rebound by Cole, a quick outlet to Laybourn-Boddie, and a quick-trigger corner three from Marabito that brought the Falcons within three. About 30 seconds later, after the Falcons had made the first of two free throws, Marabito hustled after the ball when the second attempt missed, tapping it to a teammate for the offensive rebound, then cashed in that hustle when he banged home another three-pointer, giving Lackawanna the lead back at 62-61 with 4:58 to play. After an empty Essex possession, Marabito scored again, this time on a righty-flip through the lane, then Noah Elias (Philadelphia, PA) finished off a pass from Marabito to make it 66-61, Falcons, completing a stunning 13-0 run in 2:30 of game time.
 
Essex managed to fight back to tie the game, and even briefly held a 69-68 lead on the Falcons, but Cole powered through contact to score on the inside with under two minutes to play to give Lackawanna the lead back, and Laybourn-Boddie later scored on lay-up off a turnover, then combined with Marabito to hit four free throws in the closing 30 seconds to seal the victory.
 
Lackawanna shot just under 37% from the floor for the game, but the Falcons really shined on the free throw line in the second half, going 11-for-15 from the stripe. The Falcons overcame 20 turnovers, outrebounding Essex 49-to-31. Ricardo Gomez finished with 19 points, sinking five three-pointers, while Jaidan Gilzene had a double-double at 15 points and 15 rebounds. The Wolverines were just 4-for-14 from three-point range in the second half.
 
Lackawanna College has now won two straight games, and the win pushes the Falcons into fourth place in the Region XIX Division II standings. Lackawanna remains in region play in its next game, when the Falcons host Delaware Tech CC on Saturday, January 18^th. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.