WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Senior Dyson Harward (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) tied the game with an off-balance 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in regulation and the Lycoming College men's basketball team scored 16 points in overtime to outpace Misericordia University, 86-79, in a key MAC Freedom matchup on Tuesday night, Feb. 14, at Lamade Gym.
 
Five Warriors (16-8 overall, 11-4 MAC Freedom) scored in double figures as the team clinched the No. 2 seed in the MAC Freedom Championship, earning the right to host a semifinal on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m., in Lamade Gym against an opponent to be determined Saturday on the final day of the regular season.
 
Junior Steven Hamilton (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) led the Warriors with 25 points and four assists, including notching seven in overtime and Harward finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Senior Mo Terry (Severn, Md./Severn School) added 13 points, five rebounds and five steals and first-year Isaiah Valentine (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) added 11 points, three assists and two steals, scoring the team's other nine points in overtime. Junior Brendon Blackson (Laurel, Md./Laurel) finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
 
Shooting just 39 percent (27-of-70), the Warriors came alive in the last 30 seconds of regulation into the overtime period, where they hit 3-of-4 from the field and 8-of-12 at the charity stripe. Down 69-64 after a pair of free throws from Misericordia's Nick Hornung, Harward hit a huge 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to make it a two-point game with 14 seconds left. Fouling immediately, the Warriors watched as Kevin Lazdowsky hit the front end of a 1-and-1, but Valentine grabbed the rebound of the second shot cleanly and got across midcourt for a timeout with nine seconds left. Out of the break, Valentine found Harward again on the right sideline and he clutched and fired a 23-footer the swished through with 4.8 left.
 

Off-balance dagger from Dyson Harward sends it to OT, @lycominghoops wins 86-79. #2 seed on lock in MAC Freedom Championship. Home next Wednesday, conference semifinal, 7 p.m. Book it. #d3hoops #MAChoops pic.twitter.com/c99loP6Jj4

— lycoathletics (@lycoathletics) February 15, 2023

Misericordia (12-12 overall, 7-8 MAC Freedom) got only a midcourt shot up in the waning seconds, sending the game to overtime, where Valentine got the first points on a fastbreak layup and then hit a 3-pointer with 2:30 left to give Lycoming a 77-73 lead. A minute and a half later, Hamilton hit a step-back trifecta to extend it to an eight-point lead at 82-74. The Cougars scored the next five points, but Valentine hit 4-of-6 at the line in the waning seconds to secure the win.
 
In the first half, the two teams battled back and forth through nine ties and five lead changes, with the Warriors getting their largest lead at five (11-6) early in the half and the Cougars leading by seven (37-30) with 1:44 left. The Warriors cut that deficit down to a pair, scoring five points in a row capped by a 3-pointer from Hamilton before the Cougars got the last bucket before the half to take a 40-36 lead into the break.
 
Misericordia extended the lead to 14 at 53-39 with 13:28 left, starting the half on a 13-3 run and kept the lead at 14 midway through the half before the Warriors started to make their run, closing within single digits off a fastbreak layup from Hamilton with 8:59 left. Two minutes later, a 3-pointer from Terry made it 61-57 and two minutes after that the Warriors closed within a point at 63-62 off a layup from Terry. The Cougars scored the next five points and seven of the next nine to make it 69-64 and setup Harward's late-game heroics.
 
Lazdowsky led the Cougars with 21 points and seven rebounds and both Matt Prociak and Nate Kreitzer each had 15. Hornung added three blocks.
 
The Warriors wrap up the regular season with a trip to Stevens for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday, Feb. 18, to start a MAC Freedom doubleheader. The women's game will follow at 3 p.m.