WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Down by four points and frustrated by a tough Hood College defense, the Lycoming College men's basketball team turned the game around with an eight-point spurt in 30 seconds to take control before holding on late in a 61-60 win over the last remaining undefeated team in the MAC Commonwealth on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 3, at Lamade Gym.
 
Freshman Ronald Jefferson (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) was running into a double team when he jumped, twisted and lofted a high pass to senior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech), who drilled a 3-pointer from the left side to make it 37-36. Seconds later, junior Darius James (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) picked up a loose ball in the back court and finished with a layup to give Lycoming (6-1 overall, 2-0 MAC Commonwealth) its first lead of the game. Senior Willie Kee (Baltimore, Md./Parkville) followed with another steal in the backcourt and James finished a 3-point play to make it 41-37 with 13:12 left.
 
The Blazers (6-1 overall, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth) responded with eight straight points to make it 45-41 with 9:31 left, but Lycoming responded with six straight points, with a fastbreak bucket after a steal by Johnson making it 47-45 with 7:00 left. A minute later, junior Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall) ran down the baseline to hit a layup, giving Lycoming a 49-47 lead. The Blazers cut the lead to a point and had a shot to take the lead, but James pulled down the rebound and found senior Nyk King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) who hit a layup and Kee followed with a steal and he found James for another layup to make it 53-48 with 3:58 left.
 
Lycoming had control from there, with Wallace following up a missed 3-pointer with an emphatic dunk and eventually, a free throw from Kee gave Lycoming a 59-51 lead with 1:31 left before Hood tallied with a pair of layups to bring the clock under a minute. The Warriors held the ball until five seconds on the shot clock and the resulting shot was released after the clock expired, giving Hood the ball with 25 seconds left. Tanner Ruths hit the resulting layup with 16 seconds left to make it 59-57, but Johnson iced the game with two free throws with 10 seconds left.
 
The Blazers jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a pair of free throws in the first half and expanded it to as many as 10 during the half at 22-12 with 14:28 left. The Warriors cut the lead down to two points with 4:52 left, but Hood scored the last five points of the half to take a 33-26 lead into halftime.
 
The Blazers' Scott Bolen banked in a free throw with four seconds left, but a foul with 1.2 seconds left could only lead to a desperation heave after a missed free throw as time expired. Hood continued to lead in the second half until the flurry started by Johnson's 3-pointer with 13:39 left.
 
Johnson led the Warriors with a career-high tying 25 points to go with four rebounds, a block and a steal. Wallace finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks and James added nine points, four rebounds and a steal. Kee finished with four points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists.
 
Bolen led the Blazers with 12 points and six rebounds, Luke Casey notched 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists and Tanner Ruths added 10 points. Daniel Wegener finished with eight points and Trevor Magnuski added seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
The Warriors and Blazers shot a nearly identical 36 percent from the field, while Lycoming held a 48-40 advantage on the glass and a 17-7 advantage in fastbreak points.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Saturday, Dec. 10, when they head to Widener University for a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader. The women tip at 1 p.m. before the men at 3 p.m.