OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Sophomore Nykolas King (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) got a third-chance rebound and tipped it in as the red light went off to help the Lycoming College men's basketball team post a 76-74 Commonwealth Conference win over second-place Stevenson University to wrap up its regular season at Owings Mills Gymnasium on Tuesday night, Feb. 17.
 
An improbable run from down six with 37 seconds left began when senior Patrick Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood) got a pass from senior Malcolm Covington (Springfield Gardens, N.Y./Blessed Sacrament) in the corner and drained a 3-pointer over an outstretched Stevenson defender. As the Stevenson player landed on Dougher, a foul was called, giving Dougher two free throws, both of which he drained to make it 72-71 with 27 seconds left.
 
"We tried to create some isolation," Lycoming head coach Guy Rancourt said. "Pat went to the corner. Malcolm found the lane. What they called is that after Pat came down from the shot, he was landed on, so it was two separate incidents and Pat got two free throws and he hit them both."
 
Forced to foul, the Mustangs' Colby Giacubeno hit both to make it a 3-point game with 22 seconds left. The Warriors responded when freshman Issak Boden (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) leapt over two defenders at the top of the key, draining the 3-pointer to tie the game with 13.2 seconds left. Then a turnover on the inbounds gave the Warriors the ball back with 13 seconds left.
 
Covington took a desperation 3-pointer with three seconds left, but Dougher grabbed the rebound, tossed up the shot and King was on the other side of the net to tap in the bucket as the horn went off, setting off a wild celebration by the Warrior bench while a rabid Stevenson crowd of 925 fell silent.
 
The win, ironically, was merely for bragging rights for the Warriors (18-7 overall, 13-3 Commonwealth), who had already wrapped up the top seed in the conference championship with their win over Lebanon Valley on Saturday. Meanwhile, it pulled Stevenson (16-8 overall, 9-6 Commonwealth) into a four-way tie for second in the league with Arcadia, Alvernia and Hood with one game remaining in each of their conference seasons on Saturday.
 
Four Warriors finished in double figures as the team shot 45 percent (28-of-62) from the field. Covington finished with 13 points and eight assists – moving into the top 10 in the school's career record book in assists, Dougher added 13 points, four rebounds and two 3-pointers – moving into seventh in school history with 174 career 3-pointers made, and Bodon also added 13 points and three steals. King finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
 
"People have been talking about our freshmen and what they have been doing is wonderful, but the play of our seniors has been really special," Rancourt said. "Malcolm has really stepped up his game and Pat has just been through it all before."
 
The Warriors jumped out with a  13-4 run to start the second half, taking a nine-point lead when Dougher hit his first 3-pointer with 16:03 left and even expanding it to 10 points after a fastbreak bucket by Covington with 12:20 left.
 
The Mustangs used a nine-point run to close within a point at 54-53 with 9:07 left and stayed within two possessions before taking the lead with 5:52 left on a jumper by Giacubeno. Freshman Justin Iton (Hackensack, N.J./Dwight Morrow) started a run of three points to keep Lycoming close. A 3-pointer by Giacubeno put Stevenson up by five with 3:01 left, but Bodon answered with 1:59 left.
 
A steal by Christian Roberts led to a fastbreak layup with 1:01 left, though, and Roberts added two more free throws with 49 seconds left to make it 70-64. Dougher drew a foul with a quick transition push, hitting both free throws, but Stevenson matched it when Giacubeno hit two free throws to make it 72-66 with 37 seconds left to set up the crazy ending.
 
The first half featured nine lead changes and one tie, with Lycoming taking a one-point edge into the locker room at 31-30, as Covington found Dougher during a run-out. He hit the layup and was fouled. He completed the 3-point play with 23 seconds left.
 
After Stevenson took an 8-5 lead four minutes into the game, Lycoming posted a 15-6 run to take a 20-14 lead after a layup by King with 11:05 left. The Mustangs fought back with a 14-4 run to take a 28-24 lead with 3:56 left. The Warriors scored four straight points, with freshman Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall) converting a traditional 3-point play with 3:12 left to tie the game at 28. Stevenson hit a pair of free throws with 1:19 left before Dougher's 3-point play sent the Warriors into the locker room with a one-point lead.
 
Roberts finished with 19 points and three steals and Justin Kuntz posted 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Mustangs. Giacubeno added 14 points, as Stevenson shot 49 percent in the game (28-of-57) and held a 40-27 advantage in rebounding, but the Warriors held a 23-13 advantage in turnovers, which led to 10 more points off turnover.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when the Commonwealth Conference's top seed will host the winner of the conference's first round game in the conference semifinals at 7 p.m. in Lamade Gym.