Box Score 2/25/26
 
RANDOLPH, NJ – Lackawanna College men's basketball has played some of its most inspired basketball with its collective back up against the wall this season. In the second half against County College of Morris, the Falcons put that on display, as Lackawanna used a 22-3 run to grab a lead it would never surrender to defeat the Titans, 87-79, in Wednesday night's Region XIX Division II first round playoff contest at Ed Martin Court at County College of Morris.
 
The Falcons (16-15) trailed 45-40 at halftime, shooting 44% from the floor but hitting just 3-for-14 from downtown while committing nine turnovers. The Titans (17-11) were hitting 53% from the floor and seemed to answer every punch Lackawanna threw. A bright spot for the Falcons was David Popson (Wilkes-Barre, PA), who scored ten first-half points and went 6-for-8 from the free throw line to help the Falcons sidestep some early foul trouble.
 
Into the second half, Morris buried a three-pointer to take a 55-52 lead with just under 14 minutes remaining, but Lackawanna immediately answered with a corner splash from Khalil Kemp (Philadelphia, PA), who scored eleven points off the bench. That kickstarted an impressive 22-3 over five minutes of game time, as the Falcons got big contributions from Latrell Mark (Frederick, MD), Jaksa Pejovic (Podgorica, Montenegro), and Matthew Nora (Houston, TX). Mark and Pejovic each had 13 second-half points, while Nora had an emphatic two-handed slam in transition off a turnover. Xavier Spears (Brooklyn, NY) drained a long three-pointer, and the Falcons led 74-58 with 8:19 to play.
 
The Titans answered back as Lackawanna's offense began to stall. The Falcons only scored three points over the next five minutes, and Morris got within 77-68 with 3:19 to go. The Falcons had 21 total turnovers, eleven coming in the second half, and were struggling to advance the ball down the floor against tight pressure from Morris, but the Titans couldn't get any closer than eight points.
 
Lackawanna led 83-75 with 18 seconds to play, and the teams traded points down the stretch until the buzzer sounded and the fifth-seed Falcons were victorious.
 
Mark and Pejovic had 15 points, each, while Spears had 13 points off the bench. Kemp added eleven off the pine, and Popson had 12 coming off the bench. Nora had eight points and ten rebounds in a start for the Falcons. Lackawanna shot 52.6% for the game, hitting 24-for-36 on shots from inside the three-point line. The Falcons were efficient from the free throw line, going 21-for-26 on the line.
 
The Falcons advance to the Region XIX Division II Final Four, which is happening on Thursday, February 26^th, inside the historic Lackawanna College Student Union gymnasium. The schedule for the tournament, which comprises both the women's and men's teams in Region XIX Division II, is as follows:
 
WBB Semi-Final: (1) Harcum College vs. (4) Essex County, 1PM
MBB Semi-Final: (2) Middlesex College vs. (3) Raritan Valley CC, 3PM
WBB Semi-Final: (2) Union College vs. (3) Mercer County CC, 5PM
MBB Semi-Final: (1) Mercer County CC vs. (5) Lackawanna College, 7PM
 
It marks the second year in a row that the Region XIX Division II champions will be crowned in Scranton. Last year's champions were Union College on the women's side, and Raritan Valley CC in the men's tournament.