2/1/25

SCRANTON, Pa. – Needing a win at home against a quality opponent to keep pace in a tightening region playoff race, Lackawanna men's basketball put together one of its most complete games of the year, as the Falcons led wire-to-wire in a dominant 88-65 win against Middlesex College in Region XIX DII play on Saturday afternoon inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons (12-12, 5-5) came into the game on a three-game skid, and they needed to string some region wins together to remain in the playoff hunt. The home squad delivered in front of its fans, as the Falcons took the opening tap and scored a lay-up to jump ahead, then never looked back. Lackawanna shot 50% in the first half, en route to a 47-29 lead at the break, and shot nearly 48% for the game, hitting nine three-pointers, putting four players in double-figures, and building a lead that ballooned as high as 33 with five minutes remaining. Maybe most impressive was the Falcons defense, which held the visitors well below several statistical averages.
 
The Colts (19-5, 7-3) came in averaging 81 points per game and hitting nearly 45% of their shots from the floor, while only turning the ball over around 13 times per game. Lackawanna held the Colts 16 points below their season average, while also limiting the Colts to just 33% from the floor. The Falcons also forced 21 turnovers, scoring 31 points off those giveaways.
 
Lackawanna was led by Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA) and Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA), who each had game-high 16-point performances. Laybourn-Boddie had four assists and four steals, while Marabito had six assists and five rebounds. Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD) hit three three-pointers and finished with 15 points, while Jireej Cole (Bronx, NY) added ten points and 13 rebounds for another double-double, his fifth in eight games.
 
Middlesex had four players finishing in double-figures, led by Michael Byfield's 12 points. Alfeny Javier Concepcion had eleven points and 13 boards, while Anthony Hicks scored eleven. Elijah Scott added ten points and nine rebounds.
 
Lackawanna went right to work out of the tip to start the game, when Cole won the tap by slapping the ball towards the basket, where Marabito gathered it and went up with a lay-up just seven seconds in. The Falcons built a 9-2 advantage through the first three minutes and led 11-7 at 15:51 to play in the opening half, when the offense really started to get rolling.
 
Marabito nailed a three-pointer to make it 14-7, then Elias hit a three off a mad scramble to put the Falcons up ten. Cole scored off a nice dump off inside by Marabito, then Marabito scored again, this time on an offensive rebound and putback. He'd hit the free throw, and the Falcons completed a 10-0 run in less than two minutes of game time to go ahead 21-7.
 
That run expanded to 18-2, as the Falcons took a 27-9 lead at the 12:58 mark of the first half, capped by a three-pointer in transition from Laybourn-Boddie. Middlesex would work to get the deficit down to ten, but they'd never get closer than their 33-23 deficit with 5:12 to go in the first half, as the Falcons kept responding. A jumper from the Colts in the lane with 3:50 remaining made it an eleven-point Lackawanna lead, but the Falcons quickly answered when Jaden McMeekin (Pittsburgh, PA) hit a long three-pointer off a mad scramble for an offensive rebound. The Colts scored a lay-up on one end, but Marabito hit a runner in the lane to re-establish a 14-point lead with under two to go. The Falcons added two more points on free throws, then scored a shot just before the horn when Robert Bell (Willow Grove, PA) stole a pass and raced in for the lay-up as time expired, giving Lackawanna a 47-29 lead at the break.
 
The Falcons anticipated a response from the Colts in the second half, but it was one-way traffic early as Lackawanna College hit a 12-0 run to open the half, adding an exclamation point with a Laybourn-Boddie three-pointer that made it 59-29 at 17:20 to go. The Colts wouldn't get closer than 20 the rest of the way, as the Falcons kept turning the opposition over and scoring to pull away for the emphatic win.
 
Lackawanna, with the victory, evens its overall record (12-12) and its region record (5-5). Lackawanna remains in fourth place in the Region XIX DII standings, a full game ahead of Essex County, which defeated Mercer in other region action. The Falcons hold a tiebreaker over the Wolverines, having beaten them twice this year. They are 1.5 games ahead of Mercer, the next opponent for Lackawanna College. With the loss, Middlesex falls to 7-3 in region play, dropping into second place behind Raritan Valley (7-2).
 
The Lackawanna men will host the Mercer County CC Vikings in their next contest on Tuesday, February 4^th. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. It will be the second game of a doubleheader, with the women's teams squaring off first at 5:00pm ET.