Daytona, Fla.—Freshman Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville) controlled play inside on both ends of the floor, tying his own school record with eight blocks and grabbing 17 rebounds to go with a game-high 17 points for his third double-double as the Lycoming College men's basketball team opened the Land of Magic Classic with a 64-54 win over Union (N.Y.) at the ICI Center on the campus of Embry-Riddle University on Saturday night, Dec. 28.
 
Harward's 17 rebounds were the most in a game since Matt Stackhouse had 21 in a game against Wilkes on Dec. 4, 2002, while his eight blocks tied his own record that was set against Susquehanna on Dec. 1.
 
The Warriors (8-3 overall, 2-2 MAC Commonwealth) started the game off with a hot start and did not let up, never trailing after Harward hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring. The first half saw Lycoming control the lead while shooting 50 percent (12-24) from the field, leading 34-21 at the break.  Even with junior Darius Dangerfield (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) in early foul trouble, the Warriors' defense limited Union to just 23% shooting and a high scorer of five points from Nate Freeman in the opening period.
 
The freshman duo of Howard and Mo Terry (Severn, Md./Severn) led Lycoming on a 15-4 run with two three-pointers apiece to open the game before Terry and Matt Ilodigwe (Wilmington, DE./Concord) made back-to-back layups with just over 13 minutes to play to stretch the largest lead of the game to 15 (21-6). Union (4-1 overall) tried closing the gap before the half, but Lycoming would answer right back, not allowing Union to make a run of more than five points in the period.
 
Coming out of the break, Union began digging into Lycoming's lead, as the team's field goal percentage dropped to 45 percent for the game. Union closed the gap to seven at 42-35 midway through the second period before Dangerfield stopped the run with a layup at the 11:04 mark. It was the closest margin the Dutchmen had in the second half.
 
Dangerfield scored nine second-half points and went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. Terry chipped in with seven points and Harward had six to keep Lycoming with a comfortable lead.
 
Dangerfield finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists and Terry added 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
Mike Concannon was Union's top performer with a 13-point, five-rebound effort. Freeman had seven points and Kevin Jefferson had seven rebounds.
 
The Warriors get back on the court on Sunday, Dec. 29, when they play Kenyon College in the second game of the Land of Magic Classic tournament with tip-off scheduled for a 4 p.m. start at the ICI Center.