1/11/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College men's basketball had the DII #9 team on the ropes late in the second half, but the Falcons went the final four minutes without a point, and Monroe CC pulled away for the 65-60 win in non-league action on Sunday afternoon inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.
 
The Falcons (8-7) and the #9 Tribunes (18-3) combined for six ties and 12 lead changes in a game that never saw a lead climb higher than seven points. Lackawanna led by three at the break, traded the lead back-and-forth through the first ten minutes of the second half, and were neck-and-neck with the visitors with under seven to play.
 
Monroe hit a pair of free throws, then scored a jumper from Nate Brazil, followed by a turnover and a lay-up that made it 58-55, Tribunes, with under six to play. A minute later, Jaksa Pejovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) finished off a sweet screen-and-roll with Latrell Mark (Frederick, MD) to get the Falcons within one, and then David Popson (Wilkes-Barre, PA) swished home a corner three-pointer with 4:11 to go to put the Falcons in front, 60-58.
 
A Brazil three-pointer answered that shot and made it 61-60, Tribunes, and the Falcons wouldn't get closer the rest of the way, going 0-for-6 from the floor down the stretch. Brazil hit another three and went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, scoring the final seven points for his team for the win. He finished with a game-high 29 points and seven rebounds.
 
The #9 Tribunes led 13-6 barely four minutes into the contest, but Lackawanna rallied to tie the game behind five points from Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD), which sandwiched a jumper from Mark. A pair of free throws gave the Falcons a 15-13 advantage with eleven to go in the half, and the Tribune hit a three to re-take the lead, only to then see Mark can a long three-pointer that made it 18-16, Falcons, near the half-way point.
 
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half, with the Falcons going 30.6% from the floor and just 2-for-16 from downtown, while Monroe hit 25% overall and 5-for-22 from three-point range. Lackawanna built a seven-point lead at 24-17 with 5:11 to go in the first half and then led 27-22 with 3:38 to play. Brazil hit a three-pointer to tie the game a few plays later, but Lackawanna re-established a five-point lead at 32-27 and took a 32-29 advantage into the break.
 
Monroe scored the first five points of the second-half to take the lead, but Elias hit a three-pointer to bring the Falcons back in front.
 
The Tribunes then re-took the lead at 40-37, only to see the Falcons go on a 7-0 surge, all from Pejovic, to get back in front at 44-40 with 13:17 to play. Monroe used an 8-0 run to get in front at 48-44, but Pejovic hit a three to get the Falcons within a point, and Mark hit a long three-pointer to put Lackawanna ahead at 50-48 with under ten to go.
 
With both sides only marginally improving their percentages—Monroe hit around 40% in the second half, the Falcons were at 37% in the second half—Lackawanna slowly edged back in front at 55-52 with 7:05 to play. Monroe used a 6-0 spurt to get back in front at 58-55, setting up the flurry from the Falcons that lasted just a minute of the final five.
 
Aside from Brazil, Monroe had just one other player in double-figures, with Alan Garcia scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds. The Tribunes finished 31.8% from the floor for the game, and 9-for-36 from downtown, while committing 16 turnovers. They scored 21 points off 15 Falcon turnovers, however, and shot 70% from the free throw line.
 
Lackawanna got 20 points and six rebounds from Pejovic, while Mark finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Elias had eleven points and six boards, while Elijah Smith (Washington, D.C.) added four points and a team-high ten rebounds. The Falcons shot 33% from the floor and hit just 6-for-29 from downtown.
 
Lackawanna College is back to action on Tuesday, January 13^th, with another non-league home contest. The Falcons are set to face off against Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology for a 7:00pm ET tip on Tuesday inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium.