2/4/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – A double-digit lead was whittled down to just two, but Lackawanna College men's basketball found one more gear, hitting a 24-4 run over the next four minutes of the second half to eventually pull out the 102-97 victory at home against Mercer County CC in Region XIX Division II play on Tuesday evening inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons (13-12, 6-5) set a blistering pace throughout the night, scorching the nets for 57.8% on the night, which included 16 three-pointers as a team. However, the Falcons were sloppy, committing 23 turnovers, which turned into 32 points for the visitors on the night, and enabled them to close the gap in the second half.
 
Mercer (7-13, 3-7) trailed by 17 at the break, but, thanks to a 52% shooting performance in the second half, the Vikings slowly chipped away at that deficit. By 15:30 left to go in the second half, Mercer trailed 61-51. By 10:55, the Vikings were within four at 68-64 and then had the deficit to just two points at 68-66 with 9:51 to play.
 
Lackawanna, seeing their lead and potential playoff positioning slipping away, responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD) and Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA), which ignited a 24-4 run over the next four minutes of gametime, highlighted by more threes from Laybourn-Boddie and Elias, an addition three from Steven McKoy (Beverly, NJ), and an emphatic two-handed slam from Jireej Cole (Bronx, NY). When the dust settled, the Falcons led 92-70 with 5:29 to go, a lead that the Vikings made the attempt at but couldn't come back from.
 
Laybourn-Boddie led all scorers with a career-high 35 points on 12-for-16 shooting, knocking down a season-high eight three-point shots. He also had seven assists and three steals. It's the most points for a Falcon since Aamir Mack had 37 points against Essex in January 2024. Elias put up 16 points, while Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA) added 14 points and Cole put up another double-double with ten points and eleven rebounds.
 
Torren Greene had 33 points on 11-for-21 shooting for the Vikings. Joell Idrovo added 21 points, Jayson Love scored 18 points, and Drew Parrish had 13 points and nine assists.
 
The win gives Lackawanna much-needed breathing room between itself and Essex County College in the Region XIX DII standings. Essex (4-6) now sits 1.5 games behind the Falcons (6-5), and it can only tie Lackawanna in the region standings. Lackawanna College beat Essex twice this season and owns the tiebreaker over the Wolverines. It also puts the Falcons just a half-game behind third-place Morris, and only one game behind second-place Middlesex. The loss eliminates Mercer County CC's faint playoff hopes.
 
Lackawanna gets back to non-region action on Saturday, February 8^th, when the Falcons are set to travel to take on SUNY Rockland CC. Tip-off is set for 1:00pm ET in Suffern, NY. Lackawanna defeated Rockland in their first meeting, 90-76, on January 11^th at home.