GLENSIDE, Pa. – Earlier in February, it was junior Nykolas King's mistake that cost the Lycoming College men's basketball team a win at Arcadia University in his first game back from an injured ankle. On Saturday night, Feb. 27, it was King's quick decision-making in the last 30 seconds to lead the team to a 78-73 win over Arcadia University on Saturday night, Feb. 27, at Alumni Gymnasium in the MAC Commonwealth Championship finals.
 
King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math), who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, made two critical plays down the stretch, pick-pocketing an Arcadia defender before hitting a huge layup with 22 seconds left to give Lycoming a 74-71 lead.
 
"That was one of the greatest moments of my life," King said of the layup. "It is something I will remember forever. I couldn't do it without my teammates. They rallied us on. It's overwhelming."
 
After Arcadia (17-10 overall) answered with a layup, King inbounded a long outlet pass to junior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech), who hit a transition layup with 12 seconds left to seal the win.
 
"Coach drew up the play and said as long as D.J. is where he was supposed to be he would be open," King, who was called for a five-second call late in an 86-84 loss to Arcadia on Feb. 6, said. "He was completely right and D.J. was wide open for the layup."
 
After an Arcadia turnover, Johnson hit two more free throws to round out the scoring and a late chance by Arcadia fell off the rim as time expired, setting off a jubilant celebration, as Lycoming won its third game on the road in a week in the MAC Commonwealth Championship.
 
"I am very proud of our guys," eighth-year head coach Guy Rancourt, who is advancing to the NCAA Tournament with the Warriors for the second time, said. "All of the adversity we had – we had a great start and then lost quite a few game heading into the tournament. I am really proud of how we pulled together and turned it around."
 
Sophomore Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall) was named the tournament MVP, posting 16 points and eight rebounds in the championship game to lead the Warriors (19-9 overall) to their first MAC Commonwealth title in five appearances in the game since joining the conference in 2008.
 
"Last year, we fell short against Alvernia," Wallace said. "This year, we wanted it. We were supposed to put five goals for the season and I erased all of mine and wrote, MAC champs, MAC champs, MAC champs."
 
Rancourt said of his tournament MVP, "Chris has been fabulous in every aspect, from off the court in his leadership qualities and on the court, he makes plays that are the difference in helping us win."
 
The Warriors will hear their name called during the NCAA Division III Championship selection show at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 29, on NCAA.com.
 
Lycoming got off to one of its best starts of the season, posting a 31-9 run in the game's first 8:50, with freshman T.J. Duckett (Severna Park, Md./Calvert Hall) leading the way with 14 points and sophomore Alex Newbold (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) adding nine points during the run. Lycoming began the game by hitting 11-of-14 from the field and its first four 3-point attempts.
 
"We've had great focus throughout these playoffs," Rancourt said. "They've really been locked in and enjoyed the environment. They thrived off that energy."
 
In all, the Warriors shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field in the first half, while building a lead that got to as many as 23 points with 4:41 remaining. Arcadia cut down the deficit to 16 points at the break, though, with a 9-2 run to close out the period.
 
The Warriors kept the lead in double figures for most of the second half, even leading by 15 points with 10:04 left after a layup by Newbold, but Arcadia stormed back in the last eight minutes, using a 22-8 run to cut the lead to a point with 1:17 left.
 
Lycoming missed its first opportunity, but junior Willie Kee (Baltimore, Md./Parkland) grabbed the rebound and reset the offense. The Warriors got two more looks inside, but neither fell and just when it looked like Arcadia would get a shot at a winning basket with the shot clock off, King stripped the ball and went in for the layup, with one of his most creative offensive rebounds of the year.
 
"We just fought through adversity," King said. "We had to hope Arcadia won (last Saturday) to get in (the MAC Commonwealth Championship). We got in and we took advantage of the opportunity."
 
Five Warriors finished in double figures, as Lycoming shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the field, its worst percentage of the tournament, in the win. Newbold led the team with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals and Duckett added 15 points and three 3-pointers. Johnson added 11 points.
 
Kyle Reilly led Arcadia, which shot 45 percent (26-of-58) with 16 points and Ryan Kelley posted 14 points and six steals. Both Alex Cohen and John Landro each had 11 points.