WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Status report at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. With three games left in the regular season, the Lycoming College men's basketball team is two games out of the sixth and final Landmark Conference Championship slot with four games left in the season.
 
That report looked a lot bleaker a half-hour before that, when Susquehanna University led by 17 midway through the second half before Lycoming rallied from down 11 in the final 71 seconds of regulation to force overtime before overwhelming the Landmark's second-place team in overtime to win, 102-97, inside a frantic Lamade Gym.
 
Down 83-72 after a pair of Susquehanna free throws with 1:11 left, the Warriors (8-14 overall, 4-11 Landmark) cut into the lead, as senior Steven Hamilton (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville Area) was fouled driving in for a layup for a traditional three-point play before first-year Hayden Pardoe drilled a pair of trifectas to make it 84-81 with 27 seconds left. After Susquehanna (14-8 overall, 11-4 Landmark) hit the back-end of a pair of free throws, Pardoe hit his third 3-pointer to close within a point at 85-84 with eight seconds left. Susquehanna again hit the back end of a pair of free throws a second later and Hamilton responded by driving the lane to hit the game-tying layup with two seconds left.
 
After tussling through a pair of ties to start the overtime, sophomore Isaiah Valentine (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) hit a layup. A pair of fruitless River Hawk possessions later, senior Brendon Blackson (Laurel, Md./Laurel) hit a deep 3-pointer with 1:15 left. After Susquehanna was 3-for-7 from the line in the last minute of regulation, the Warriors closed the game 5-of-6 in the last minute to seal it.
 
Three Warriors finished with 20 points – Valentine led the Way with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists, Hamilton notched 21 points and a career-high 11 assists, moving within 15 points of becoming the 34th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points, and Beagle added 20 points and eight rebounds. Two others finished in double figures – Pardoe posting 15 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists and Blackson notching 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
 
The two teams went through five ties and three lead changes in the first half, with Susquehanna taking the lead with a 3-pointer with 4:52 left as part of a run eight straight points to make it 41-34 before the Warriors scored the last four points of the half. Lycoming kept the pressure on, taking a 47-45 lead off a Valentine floater two and a half minutes into the second half, but an 18-2 run by Susquehanna occupied the next five minutes of the half, giving it a 71-54 lead with 10 minutes to play.
 
The Warriors cut that lead down to single digits with 5:21 left at 73-65, but Susquehanna kept at least a three-possession lead until the second of Pardoe's game-saving 3-pointers with 43 seconds left.
 
The Warriors shot a season-best 54 percent (40-of-74) from the floor in the game, including an impossibly hot 83 percent (5-of-6) in overtime, while the River Hawks matched the tempo, shooting 53 percent (40-of-76), but just 42 percent (5-of-12) in overtime.
 
Mike Pirone and Billy Anderson led the River Hawks with 19 points, with Anderson grabbing nine rebounds. Marcus Mitchell added 17 points and Steven Ressler posted 12 points, six assists and three steals.
 
The Warriors are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 10, when they head to Moravian University for another critical Landmark Conference game at 2 p.m.