Box Score 2/8/25

SUFFERN, NY – A late defensive play helped Lackawanna College men's basketball escape with its third straight victory, as the Falcons knocked off SUNY Rockland CC on the road, 69-66, in non-region action on Saturday afternoon in New York.
 
The Falcons (14-12) were clinging to a 68-66 lead with 12 seconds to go and were on the free throw line with a chance to put the game out of reach. But, two missed shots left the door open for the Hawks (13-9), who charged down the floor. As Rockland's Tyler Lingham drove the right side of the lane, sophomore Steven McKoy (Beverly, NJ) made the biggest play of the game, swatting the shot cleanly away for the block. Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD) gathered the loose ball and drew the foul with four seconds remaining, as McKoy received high-fives and chest bumps from his teammates.
 
Rockland still had a chance to at least tie, after Elias went 1-for-2 from the line, but Jerell Taylor's three-point attempt fell just short of the net, and McKoy fittingly skied to grab the rebound and launched the ball into the air as the buzzer sounded.
 
The game itself was a struggle for both teams on offense. The Falcons jumped out to a 20-9 lead with under 12 minutes to play in the first half and led 23-12 just past the midway point of the first half. The offense started to slow for the visitors, however, and the hometown Hawks, playing in their final home game of the regular season, started to make their push. In particular, the perimeter defense from Rockland really flustered the Lackawanna guards, forcing the Falcons to work for everything. On the offensive side, the Hawks made their hay at the free throw line, converting on the freebies to eventually close the gap and tie the game at 29-all with under four minutes to go in the first half. The Hawks sank a pair of free throws to then surge ahead at 31-29 with about 2:40 to go in the half.
 
The Falcons were still trailing at 33-31 with about 20 seconds left, when Jireej Cole (Bronx, NY) drove from the right wing, stepped through on the help defender, and finished nicely with the left-hand at the rim to tie the game at 33 heading into halftime. That bucket may have served as the catalyst to help kick the Falcons into gear in the second frame.
 
Out of the break, after Rockland scored to open the half, McKoy answered with a running lay-up to bring the Falcons back to even. Cole rebounded the Rockland miss, then the Falcons went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to make it a 36-35 Lackawanna lead. The advantage grew to four after Elias hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with just over two minutes gone by.
 
Later in the half, with Lackawanna ahead 42-38 and under 15 to play, Cole woke the Rockland Fieldhouse up with a one-handed slam off a feed from Evan Laybourn-Boddie (Scranton, PA). That jolt of energy didn't exactly jumpstart either team on offense, as both teams continued to struggle from the floor over the next four minutes of action.
 
Eventually, Nick Marabito (Upper Darby, PA) hit a big three-pointer with 10:30 to go, off a feed from Laybourn-Boddie near the top of the key, pushing the Lackawanna lead out to 49-42. That was the first of three straight three-pointers from the Falcons, two from Marabito and one from Elias, all assisted by Laybourn-Boddie, which helped Lackawanna stay ahead at 55-48 with under nine to play.
 
Rockland made another push, closing the gap to just a one-point deficit at 57-56 with 6:15 to go. After a few empty possessions, the Hawks were inbounding, still trailing by a point, with 5:23 to go. A pass to the corner resulted in an open three-point attempt, which bounced high off the rim and out to the wing. As Rockland chased the ball down, McKoy made a huge defensive play, poking the ball free and into the path of Laybourn-Boddie, who quickly went the other way and finished with a lay-up through contact to make it 59-56, Lackawanna.
 
After a technical free throw from Marabito, Laybourn-Boddie missed his and-one, but Marabito stole the back pass and scored a lay-up, pushing the Falcons back up by six with five minutes remaining. A Laybourn-Boddie lay-up made it an eight-point Lackawanna lead with just over four to play at 64-56, but Rockland quickly responded with a six-point surge to close the deficit to 64-62.
 
With under three minutes to go, Rockland missed two point-blank looks to tie the game, and the Falcons finally answered with a nifty back-door cut by Elias, who scored a reverse lay-up off the pass from Laybourn-Boddie. After two Rockland free throws, Marabito scored a baseline driving lay-up to make it 68-64, Falcons, with just over two minutes to play.
 
Both teams would stall on offense, with Rockland's points coming from the free throw line. The Falcons had possession with over 40 seconds left, but missed a shot on the baseline to give the Hawks the chance to try to tie or take the lead. That set up the final defensive stands made by Lackawanna and McKoy to help the Falcons secure the win.
 
Lackawanna put four players in double-figures, led by Marabito's 18 points. Elias scored nine out of his eleven points in the second half, while Jasier Carter (North Brunswick, NJ) added ten and Cole put up ten points. Rockland was led by Lingham's 20 points.
 
The Falcons have now won three straight games, and will look to extend that streak on Tuesday, February 11^th, when Lackawanna is set to host the County College of Morris in the Region XIX DII regular season finale. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm ET inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.