WOOSTER, OH – Three players scored double figures for the Lycoming College men's basketball team in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship, but a 57 percent shooting effort from the floor from 15
th-ranked Elmhurst helped it to a 97-73 win in the first round of the tournament on Friday afternoon, March 6, in Timken Gymnasium at the College of Wooster.
"I'm really proud of our team, we had an unbelievable, championship-caliber season," Lycoming College's second-year head coach
Mike McGarvey said. "Elmhurst had tons of balance and they brought their very best effort. For our guys to come in and see what the top level of Division III basketball looks like, it will be very memorable to motivate our younger players going into next year."
Junior
Darius Dangerfield (Abingdon, Md./Harford Tech) led the Warriors with 13 points, five assists and a steal. Senior
Ryan Hollis (Centerville, Md./Saints Peters and Paul) finished with 11 points, three assists and two steals and freshman
Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) scored 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in his NCAA Championship debut.
"What Darius has meant for the guys to look at and see his success, he's been getting a lot of recognition and that has come because of his work ethic and determination to belong in the conversation as one of the best players in the Mid-Atlantic Region," McGarvey said. "I am really excited to see that the younger guys can take the leadership that Ryan will leave behind and the work ethic that Darius has imprinted. They will continue to grow and be a team that can get back to the national championship multiple times."
The Blue Jays (24-5 overall) built up a 10-point lead midway through the first half. The Warriors got back within a one-possession game twice in the half. Sophomore
D'Andre Edmond (Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville) hit a hook shot to bring the Warriors within three (25-22) with 6:30 left to start the Warriors' best scoring run. A Hollis 3-pointer got within two at the 2:56 mark to cap the run.
"The things that
Ryan Hollis has been able to accomplish in the short two years to establish himself as one of the best players in the league is one of the main reasons we were so successful this year," McGarvey said.
Hollis converted a team-high 50 percent (3-of-6) from three-point range, but Elmhurst protected the perimeter to limit the Warriors to 28 percent (4-of-14) from beyond-the-arc and 36 percent (12-of-33) from the floor in the half as the Blue Jays went on an 11-3 run with a 3-point buzzer-beater to make the score 42-32 at the break. Elmhurst converted 53 percent (17-for-32) of its shots in the half.
A 62 percent (18-of -9) second-half shooting percentage helped the Blue Jays take control, getting the lead up to 19 with 15:31 left in the game. Hollis nailed a three from the corner and the Warriors got the lead down to 10 as Edmond hit a three from the top and freshman
Tobias Walden Jr. (New York, N.Y./Southern Columbia) hit back-to-back jumpers from the right elbow to make it 66-56 with nine minutes to play. It was the closest the Warriors got in the half.
Elmhurst had three players in double figures, Derek Dotlich scored a game-high 18 points, Lavon Thomas had 17 points and six rebounds and Jake Rhode finished with 15 points, five assists and two steals.
The Warriors finished the 2019-20 season with a nine-win improvement from 2018-19 and captured its third MAC Commonwealth Championship in five years and its first under second-year head coach McGarvey.
"It's really hard to win in college basketball especially with younger players," McGarvey said. "Our freshmen played like juniors and seniors for most of the year and we were really deep. There's a lot of opportunity for growth and I am excited for that."
