Box Score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A defender draped all over him and playing from behind all of the second half, senior Jerald Williams (Riverdale, Md./Bladensburg) floated into the paint and lifted a shot over the defender, canning the eight-footer at the buzzer and sending the game into overtime, where the Lycoming College men’s basketball team outlasted Wilkes, posting a 109-102 win on Sunday, Nov. 25, at the Marts Center.
 
Williams had another unreal stat line, posting his second straight double-double with 12 points, 17 assists and seven steals, crossing 600 career assists with his 11^th during the game. He has posted three straight games of 10 assists or more for the third time in his career, helping the Warriors improve to 3-1 overall, as his 17 assists were both the second-most in his career and in school history.
 
The win spoiled an outstanding effort from Wilkes’ Chris Shovlin, who finished with 38 points, 11 rebounds, nine 3-pointers, eight assists and four steals.
 
“We found a way to win,” Lycoming head coach Guy Rancourt said. “That was very important to us. We’re going to have some tough games and we can take from this experience. How good is Mr. Shovlin? I am very proud of our guys for staying strong throughout.”
 
The Colonels (2-1 overall) got the first bucket in overtime with a layup, but Williams answered, hitting a free throw and then forcing a steal and driving the length of the floor for a layup to give the Warriors a 97-96 lead with 3:27 left. After a missed 3-pointer by Wilkes, Williams drove the floor and found junior Kevin Anthony (Columbus, Ohio/Bridgton Academy) for a layup on the fastbreak. Another missed jumper led to another big play for the Warriors, as sophomore Patrick Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood) canned a three from the left side while getting fouled.
 
Shovlin did his best to get the Colonels back into the game, hitting two treys in the final 1:36, but the Warriors hit all five of their free throws in the last 76 seconds to ice its third straight win over the Colonels.
 
Down by nine points with 4:30 left in regulation, the Warriors rallied with a furious run in the final minutes of the game, scoring 18 points in that time. The run started slowly, with Lycoming scoring six straight points, capped by a layup from sophomore Chris Foreman (Union, N.J./Union) to make it 85-82 with 2:35 left. After two free throws from Wilkes and a free throw from Foreman, senior Anthony Martin (Detroit, Mich./Christ the King) rebounded a missed layup off a steal by Williams and converted the second chance point to make it a two-point game.
 
Wilkes responded with a layup from Jeremy Hartman, but Foreman continued his clutch shooting, canning a three with 1:20 left to make it 89-99. Williams followed with a steal and an offensive rebound by freshman William Wingate (Philadelphia, Pa./Mastery Charter) turned into a layup to give the Warriors a 90-89 lead. Shovlin responded with 37 seconds left, though, drilling a 3-pointer and after a missed layup with 21 seconds left, Wilkes went to the free throw line, where Cameron Hinkel hit the front end of two shots to make it 93-90. Lycoming ran the court quickly and Foreman drove the lane for a layup to make it 93-92 with eight seconds left. Another foul and a missed free throw by Wilkes made it a two point game, setting up Williams’ dramatic jumper.
 
The Warriors jumped out to an early lead, leading by as many as seven after a fastbreak layup by junior Justin Miller (Agawam, Mass./Bridgton Academy) at 31-24, but Wilkes went on a 21-10 run over the half’s final 8:30 to take a 45-41 lead into the break. Lycoming took the lead back 3:25 into the second half at 50-49, but Wilkes went on an 11-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 14:16 left and didn’t let the Warriors back within four points until the final 2:35 of regulation.
 
Anthony also finished with his second straight double-double, notching 15 points and 11 rebounds and Foreman notched a career-high 20 points, also posting three 3-pointers and two steals to lead a crop of seven Warriors in double figures. Martin posted 17 points, Wingate added 13, Williams 12 and both Miller and Rudy 10. Miller grabbed five rebounds and Rudy posted six and added two blocks. Wingate also had two blocks.
 
Tyler Breznitsky finished with 15 points and three assists and Edmonds posted 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Jourdan Wilson added seven points and eight assists and Brendan Sheldon notched seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Lycoming shot 50 percent (39-for-78) from the field and 71 percent (24-for-34) from the line. Wilkes shot 49 percent (40-for-81) from the field and 40 percent (14-for-35) from 3-point range, but were limited to just 13 free throws. The Warriors also held a 31-24 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The Warriors get back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 28, when they host their first Commonwealth Conference game of the season, facing Alvernia at 8 p.m. at Lamade Gym.