2/12/26

SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College men's basketball earned an impressive, crucial home victory against Raritan Valley CC, 82-68, in a Region XIX Division II contest inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium on Tuesday evening.
 
The Falcons (13-13, 4-6) built a double-digit lead eight minutes into the game and never let the lead dip below ten the rest of the way, keeping the normally-on-target Lions (16-9, 5-4) off balance through the night. Raritan shot 46% from the floor but committed 22 turnovers, which the Falcons scored 28 points on.
 
After the lead ballooned to 30-11 with 6:57 to play in the first half, Raritan managed to close the gap to 36-26 with 1:18 remaining. Jaksa Pejovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) buried a three-ball in the left corner to give the Falcons a 13-point lead heading into halftime, and the Lackawanna advantage yo-yo'ed up-and-down the rest of the way.
 
A three-pointer from Raritan at 16:40 made it 46-36, Falcons, but Elijah Smith (Washington, D.C.) hit a tough jumper in the lane, and then Pejovic scored two free-throws to get the Falcons back up to 14. A three-pointer brought it back to eleven, but Latrell Mark (Frederick, MD) scored two of his 14 second-half points to put the Falcons back up 13.
 
With the lead down to 54-44 with 12 minutes to play, Noah Elias (Silver Spring, MD) hit a fallaway jumper to go back up 12. Mark hit two more free throws, then Jahsan Simms (Hillside, NJ) hit a tough leaner in the lane to make it 60-44 with eleven minutes to play. The lead ballooned out to 19 points at 65-46 with just over nine minutes to play, and it didn't dip below 14 until under six to go.
 
Raritan's Myles Whye, who led all scorers with 27 points, hit a pair of free throws, then the Lions made two more to get the deficit down to ten at 69-59 with under five to play. A turnover nearly led to a three-pointer from the Lions, but the shot missed and they turned the ball over. On the subsequent possession, Pejovic slipped a screen on the left wing and dove to the basket. Xavier Spears (Brooklyn, NY) fed him and Pejovic skied in the lane with a left-handed lay-up, scoring through contact and earning a trip to the line for the three-point play.
 
That started an 11-3 run by the Falcons to take the lead back out to 80-62, essentially clinching the game for the Falcons and stirring a raucous home crowd into a frenzy for Lackawanna.
 
Lackawanna shot 47% for the game, hitting seven three-pointers, and the Falcons put three players in double-figures. Pejovic had 22 points and ten rebounds, while Mark had 21 points, five assists, and four steals. Simms scored ten points for the Falcons, while Spears had nine points off the bench, and Smith added seven points and seven rebounds. Lackawanna had 18 bench points, along with a 38-26 rebounding margin, which included 13 offensive boards.
 
The win keeps the Falcons' playoff hopes alive. Lackawanna (4-6) is currently in sixth-place and has two remaining region contests. The Falcons need to win both those games to qualify for a playoff bid. Raritan's loss means that Mercer County CC clinches the top-seed in Region XIX Division II.
 
The next step in the Falcons' push for the postseason is this coming Saturday, February 14^th, when Lackawanna will travel to take on Delaware Tech CC in a road Region XIX Division II contest. Tip is set for 2:00pm ET on the DTCC Stanton campus in Newark, DE, with the women's teams playing first at 12:00pm ET.