GLENSIDE, Pa. – Freshman Mo Terry (Severn, Md./Severn School) hit a go-ahead free throw with 38 seconds left, freshman Jon-Marc Flores-Diaz (San Antonio, Texas/William Howard Taft) took a charge with 11 seconds left and junior Darius Dangerfield (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) did the rest, hitting three free throws to lift the underdog Lycoming College men's basketball team to a come-from-behind 68-64 win over No. 3 seed Arcadia in the MAC Commonwealth Championship final on Saturday night, Feb. 29, at Alumni Gym.
 
The fourth-seeded Warriors (20-8 overall), who finished last in the MAC Commonwealth with a 5-11 conference record in 2018-19, rolled through their final MAC Commonwealth Championship title by finishing in a tie for second in the regular season with a  10-6 record before beating the preseason MAC Commonwealth favorite, Hood, 80-78, in the first round before taking out the MAC Commonwealth regular-season champion Widener, 90-77, in the semifinals to set up Saturday's game with the defending champions.
 
"It's just pure joy," second-year head coach Mike McGarvey said. "The result of tonight's game wouldn't define our season. We exceeded expectations. To go out with something as special as this for the players in our locker room, it's something that they'll take with them for the rest of their lives."
 
"It hasn't really set in," Dangerfield added. "I don't know when it will. It feels awesome. Staying committed was the biggest thing for me. Adversity will hit you in all different ways. When you love something, you just need to keep going and work hard."
 
Terry hit a free throw to give Lycoming a 65-64 lead with 38 seconds left. Freshman Jon-Marc Flores-Diaz (San Antonio, Texas/William Howard Taft) came up with a steal off a loose ball on Arcadia's next possession and the Warriors' pulled the ball out before Dangerfield was fouled. He hit one free throw, and Terry took a charge with 11 seconds left. A loose ball on the inbounds found the hands of Dangerfield, who was fouled, and he hit both free throws with seven seconds left to ice the game for Lycoming.
 
"It's just being tough," Dangerfield said of the defensive stands at the end of the game. "We just wanted it. We were all committed to do the right things. If you make the winning play, the right things happen."
 
Dangerfield, the tournament MVP, posted 22 points in the championship game to go along with four assists, as he hit 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 8-of-9 at the line.
 
"No one made better plays down the stretch than Darius," McGarvey said. "He has been our MVP all-year long."
 
Sophomore D'Andre Edmond (Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville) posted 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks and freshman Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) added nine points and seven rebounds. Senior Ryan Hollis (Centreville, Md./Saints Peters & Paul) also notched nine points.
 
Arcadia scored four points to take a 55-51 lead before Hollis hit a corner 3-pointer to tie it at 55 with 5:24 to play. After each team got a pair of points, both made defensive stands, with Dangerfield drawing a charge as the clock ticked under 2:30 left, setting up a go-ahead layup from Edmond. Steve Pendleton tied it with a pair of free throws and Dangerfield responded with a 3-pointer with 1:44 left before a wild Arcadia shot was sent back to him and he was fouled to get to the line, where he hit a pair of free throws to make it 64-59. Da'kquan Davis responded with the next five points for Arcadia (16-11 overall), hitting a deep 3-pointer to tie it with a minute left.
 
The Warriors opened the second half with seven straight points, the last four from Harward to take a 31-29 lead, but Arcadia countered with 11 straight points, taking a 40-31 lead with 15:06 left. The Warriors fought back within two points with 13:39 left after a 3-pointer from Ilodigwe and again with 9:31 left after a 3-pointer from Hollis. Two minutes later, Dangerfield drove in and was fouled for an old-fashioned three-point play to get the lead within a point at 51-50 before he hit two free throws to make it 52-51 with 7:11 to play.
 
Both teams struggled through a low-scoring first half, with the Warriors shooting just 32 percent and turning the ball over nine times and Arcadia shot 41 percent (11-of-27) to go with eight turnovers. Arcadia also struggled with 11 personal fouls.
 
Lycoming started the game by hitting three 3-pointers to take a 9-6 lead before Arcadia fought back to take a 15-11 lead with 7:55 left in the half. An old-fashioned three-point play by freshman Tobias Walden Jr. (New York, N.Y./Southern Columbia) ignited Lycoming on an 11-2 run, as a 3-pointer from Dangerfield helped Lycoming take a 22-17 lead with 4:49 left in the half. Arcadia closed the half on a 10-2 run, though, hitting its last four shots of the half to take a 27-24 lead at the break.
 
Davis finished with 23 points and Pendleton had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Knights.
 
The Warriors will advance to the NCAA Division III Championship, beginning the tournament with the first round on Friday, March 6. The Warriors will find out where they play during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 2, at 12:30 p.m.