WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Freshman
Matt Ilodigwe (Wilmington, Del./Concord) tied a 16-year old program record by knocking down 11 3-pointers to lead five Lycoming College men's basketball players that set career highs in a 107-100 MAC Commonwealth victory against Hood College on Saturday, Feb. 9, in Lamade Gym.
Ilodigwe scored a career-high 33 points, going 11-of-15 from deep to tie the record held by Tommy Wesner, who hit 11 trifectas against Lincoln University on Nov. 23, 2002.
The Warriors (10-14 overall, 4-11 MAC Commonwealth) notched their 10
th win of the season for the 25
th straight year. Lycoming connected on a conference-high 24-of-39 3-pointers, moving them into second all-time for trifectas in a season with 247, one behind the 1999-00 team for the top spot in the team's record book.
Two Warriors finished with double-doubles, as senior
Calvin Chandler (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista) connected on 4-of-7 3-pointers, finishing with 13 points, 11
rebounds and a career-high eight assists and junior
Ryan Hollis (Centreville, Md./Saints Peters & Paul) was 4-of-5 from three, totaling 13 points and a career-high 10 assists. Senior
Hiro Yamaki (Sakata, Japan/Sakata East) scored a career-high 11 points and senior
Darius James (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin) added 12. Senior
Serge Cole (Montgomery, Pa./Montgomery) scored a career-high four points and freshman
Nicholas Balfour (Queens Village, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and sophomore
Christian Diggs (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Township) each scored the first points of their careers.
The Warriors led from start to finish and came out of the break with a 44-37 advantage. Lycoming went on a 31-15 run over the first 10 minutes of the second period, connecting on 9-of-11 threes, to extend their lead to 75-54. Chandler drilled his fourth trifecta to give Lycoming its largest lead of the game, 91-67, capping a 14-4 run with 5:25 to go. Hood (15-8 overall, 9-5 MAC Commonwealth) followed with an 8-0 run to close the gap to 91-75 with 3:44 remaining. A Balfour layup put the Warriors at the century mark, 100-84, with 1:37 left before the Blazers closed the contest on a 16-7 run to make up the final margin.
The Warriors shot 56 percent (35-of-63) from the field, the fourth time they shot over 50 percent this season.
Chandler had a hand in nine of the Warriors first 12 points, knocking down a triple and assisting on two more, to help Lycoming burst out to a 12-3 lead through the game's first four minutes. Hood responded with a 9-1 run to make it a one-point game with 11:46 remaining. A pair of triples by Chandler and Ilodigwe expanded the Warrior lead back to 19-13 over the next 60 seconds. The Warriors kept Hood at bay, until a pair of free throws with 5:25 left helped the Blazers close the gap to a single point, but the Warriors closed the half outscoring Hood, 13-7, to head into the break with a 44-37 lead.
Mason Wang netted 29 points, going 9-of-10 from the line and 8-of-19 from the field for the Blazers. Keith Claiborne Jr. added 14 points and five rebounds.
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 16, when they host MAC Commonwealth foe Widener University in its final game of the 2018-19 season in Lamade Gym at 3 p.m.
