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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – For the first time since the 1997-98 campaign, the Lycoming College men’s basketball team has scored more than 90 points in three straight games, as the Warriors used a 20-steal night to score 34 points off turnover to down previously unbeaten Penn State Wilkes-Barre, 98-58, in the opening game of the Lycoming College Tip-Off Tournament at Lamade Gymnasium on Friday evening, Nov. 19.

“Turnovers is kind of what we depend on,” Lycoming College head coach Guy Rancourt said. “The chaos we have inside our system, as crazy as it seems, is a vital part to what we do in our system.”

The win moved the Warriors (3-0 overall), who shot over 50 percent for the second straight game (36-for-68, 52.9 percent) into the championship game of the tournament at 4 p.m. where they will face Johnson & Wales, 88-60 winners over Franciscan in the nightcap. Franciscan and Penn State Wilkes-Barre will square off in the consolation match at 2 p.m.

Sophomore Jerald Williams (Riverdale, Md./Bladensburg) led the Warriors on both ends of the floor, as the point guard flirted with a triple-double in just 27 minutes, as he posted 11 points, seven assists and six steals.

Senior Will Kelly (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Township) and sophomore Ihsaan Davis (Jamaica, N.Y./Christ the King) led the Warriors with 15 points apiece, although both figured all over the stat sheet, with Kelly posting four rebounds, four assists and two steals and Davis notching two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior Mike Bradley (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) was the fourth Warrior in double figures, scoring 10 points and adding five rebounds.

“We’re not a selfish team and that makes us more diverse,” Williams said. “You never know who is going to have a good night. Any night, somebody else can step up and score the most points for us. It’s good that we have a lot of go-to guys.”

Freshman Michael Rudy (Danville, Pa./Danville) posted nine points and nine rebounds to go with four steals and freshman Ryan Davis (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) notched six points and four thefts. Freshman Kevin Anthony (Atlanta, Ga./Bridgton Academy) added eight points, two dunks and three rebounds and senior Sebastian Sabella (Bayside, N.Y./Episcopal School) added seven points and five rebounds.

The Warriors fell behind for the first time in a span of 80 minutes, as Marques Middleton drained a three to open the scoring for Mountain Lions (3-1 overall), who were riding high after a 73-70 win over Bloomsburg on Wednesday night, Nov. 17, but Ihsaan Davis responded with a trey to tie the game and a 3-pointer by Kelly with 18:16 left gave Lycoming the lead for good.

With an 11-9 lead four minutes into the game, the Warriors used eight straight points, all of them in the paint to take a 10-point lead. The Mountain Lions kept the lead in single figures until a layup from Rudy ignited a 16-2 run that was capped with a trey from Sabella that gave the Warriors a 40-18 lead with 6:51 left. The teams traded baskets from there, with the Warriors holding a 19-point lead, 47-28, at the half.

An opening 12-2 run in the second half that featured both of Anthony’s dunks on fast breaks gave Lycoming its first 30-point lead of the game at 61-30. The Mountain Lions got the lead down to 21 points with 13:41 left after a fastbreak dunk by Desmond Simms, but that was as close as they could get. Lycoming finished off the game with a 27-10 run over the final 9:43 to keep the game out of reach, as Miller knocked in the culminating layup with 46 seconds left to give Lycoming its 40-point win.

Simms led Penn State Wilkes-Barre, scoring 16 points and adding three steals. John Sanderson added four points, three assists and three steals and Keith Johnson posted eight points and three assists.