OWINGS MILLS, Md. – With the game tied with less than three minutes remaining, the Lycoming College men's basketball team used a run of seven straight points to take control and post an 85-78 win over Stevenson University in MAC Commonwealth action at Owings Mills Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 7.
 
With the score tied at 71 as the clock rolled under three minutes, senior Nyk King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) hit a pair of free throws to give Lycoming (13-2 overall, 5-1 MAC Commonwealth) the lead. A long rebound off a Stevenson shot led to a fastbreak, as sophomore T.J. Duckett (Severna Park, Md./Calvert Hall) found junior Darius James (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin), who ran up against a defender and scored a layup. The Warriors got another fastbreak bucket off a missed dunk attempt, as the rebound came out to junior Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall), who played pitch and catch with King down the court before laying it in.
 
After another fruitless Stevenson possession, senior Willie Kee (Baltimore, Md./Parkville) hit a free throw with 1:32 left to make it 78-71. After a layup by Stevenson and a Lycoming turnover, King picked up a huge charge call, then found senior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) for a layup in transition with 1:05 left. The Warriors hit 3-of-4 from the line to get the lead to a game-high 10 before Stevenson scored five straight to make it 83-78 with 20 seconds left. However, Johnson sealed the win with a pair of free throws with six seconds left.
 
"We had to make some adjustments," Lycoming head coach Guy Rancourt said. "We had to bounce back. Darius James did a great job being a spark plug and coming into help us. We moved the ball better offensively and had some better looks, but we have to get better."
 
Wallace and Kee led a group of five Warriors in double figures with 14 points each, as Lycoming shot 48 percent (29-of-60) in the game. Wallace added five rebounds, three assists, two assists and two steals and Kee added five assists. Duckett finished with 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers and adding five rebounds, and both Johnson and Newbold added 10 points.
 
The Warriors jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the game's first two minutes, with Newbold posting the first six points of the game for the Warriors. Stevenson responded with a 12-2 run to take a four-point lead just three minutes later and led by as many as five at 19-14 before the Warriors responded with an 8-2 run to take the lead back and start a run of one lead change and three ties before an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kee put the Warriors in control and started a seven point run.
 
The Mustangs cut the lead down to one by the break at 43-42, but Lycoming came out in the second half with four straight points and Lycoming built the lead back to seven points at 53-46 with 16:18 left. The Warriors were able to keep that lead by at least two points until a 3-pointer from Tim McNeal with 5:49 left game the Mustangs a 67-66 lead.
 
The Warriors took the lead back with a pair of free throws Wallace on the next possession, but Stevenson tied the game twice more before the Warriors began their final run.
 
Stevenson was led by McNeal, who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Cameron Hayes, who added 17 points and five rebounds. Cliff Cornish also added 14 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Wednesday, Jan. 10, when they head to Albright College for a 7 p.m. MAC Commonwealth game against the league leaders.