WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior
Steven Hamilton (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) dribbled to the free throw line, lost the ball for a flash, then picked up his dribble between his legs and turbo-charged into the lane tossing up a runner that hit the backiron and fell through with 0.8 seconds left in overtime, giving the Lycoming College men's basketball team a 69-67 win over Wilkes University in MAC Freedom play on Thursday night, Jan. 26.
The Warriors (12-7 overall, 7-3 MAC Freedom) were able to widen their hold on second place in the conference with the overtime win over the third-place Colonels (10-8 overall, 5-4 MAC Freedom) to 1.5 games with six regular-season games left. Meanwhile, the team's magic number to clinch a MAC Freedom Championship slot fell to five.
Hamilton finished with a team-high 19 points, adding three assists and three 3-pointers, while senior
Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) broke the modern-era Lycoming record with his 33
rd career double-double, notching 19 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and a block. Senior
DeAundre Manuel (Brooklyn, N.Y./KIPP NYC Prep) added 15 points, nine rebounds and two steals and first-year
Isaiah Valentine (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) added eight points and 10 rebounds, as the Warriors held a 47-41 advantage on the glass and a plus-four advantage in turnovers to negate a 34 percent (24-of-71) shooting night from the field while the Colonels shot nearly 50 percent (29-of-59).
Lycoming pushed a 9-point halftime lead to as many as 12 points in the second half at 52-40 off a 3-pointer from Valentine with 12:27 left, but the Colonels rallied with a 20-4 run to take a 60-56 lead with 4:48 left. The Warriors tied the game two minutes later after four made free throws and Valentine hit a wide-open layup underneath with 50 seconds left, but Cayden Merrifield tied the game 11 seconds later with a driving layup and neither team got a clean look in the final 40 seconds.
The team's traded buckets in overtime, with a 3-pointer from Hamilton giving Lycoming a 67-64 lead with 2:06 left before a free throw and Trent Fisher layup inside with 24 seconds left tied it and set up Hamilton's winner.
Down 25-20 with 5:57 left in the first half, the Warriors got moving when Harward turned a steal into a 3-pointer on the other end, igniting 16 point run capped on a second-chance layup from Valentine with 53 seconds. The Colonels hit a layup as time expired on the period to end the run make it 36-27 at the break.
Fisher led the Colonels with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Drake Marshall had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Cayden Merrifield notched 10 points and three assists.
The Warriors return to the court on Saturday, Jan. 28, when they head to first-place DeSales University for a 3 p.m. MAC Freedom tip-off in Center Valley, Pa. The women's teams will play at 1 p.m.
