SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Lycoming College men's basketball team built a 19-point lead in the first half, but 25th-ranked Susquehanna University shot 58 percent in the second half to storm back and take a 75-74 decision on Tuesday night, Nov. 22, at O.W. Houts Gymnasium.
 
In a game with two ties and eight lead changes, the River Hawks (3-1 overall) got the last one off a 3-pointer from 6-8 forward Ryan Traub with 25 seconds left, just 12 seconds after a 3-pointer from the left wing by sophomore T.J. Duckett (Severna Park, Md./Calvert Hall) to put the Warriors up 74-72.
 
Senior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) led the Warriors with 14 points and five rebounds and senior Nyk King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) added 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
After Susquehanna took a 4-2 lead, the Warriors rushed out on a 21-4 run to take a 23-9 lead after four straight points from Johnson and two from junior Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall). Lycoming continued to pressure while Susquehanna shot just 36 percent from the half, with a jumper from junior Alex Newbold (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) making it 33-14 with 8:33 left.
 
Susquehnan cut the lead to 12 points at 43-31 by halftime before going on a 17-6 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter, drawing within a point after a 3-pointer from Steven Weidlich. The Warriors responded with three straight buckets, two from King and one from freshman Ronald Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King), but two Susquehanna 3-pointers were followed by a free throw line steal and open layup by Weidlich that gave Susquehanna a 56-55 lead with 8:52 left.
 
The Warriors took the lead back with 6:58 left off a layup by King before extending the lead to as many as five with 1:55 left at 71-66. Susquehanna again responded with two straight from downtown, the second in transition by Zachary Knecht to take a 72-71 left with 1:05 left.
 
Lycoming forced a turnover on their end of the floor with 25 seconds left, which set up Duckett's 3-pointer to give Lycoming the lead.
 
Wallace finished with seven points, five rebounds and four steals and Newbold finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Duckett had six points and two assists and both freshman Trent Bishop (Hyattsville, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and sophomore Calvin Chandler (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista) each had six points.
 
Traub led the Crusaders with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Weidlich finished with 17 points, four assists and four rebounds. Zachary Knecht added 13 points and five rebounds, Seth Callahan had 11 points and Jason Dietrich posted 10 points and three rebounds.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Sunday, Nov. 27, when they host Penn State Altoona in non-conference action at 2 p.m.