2/27/08
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.—Lycoming’s men’s basketball team (17-9, 8-3) defeated Lebanon Valley (11-15, 5-6) by a score of 71-56 on Wednesday night at Lamade Gymnasium in a Commonwealth Conference semi-final game. As the No. 1 seed, the Warriors will host fellow semi-final winner Widener in Saturday’s conference championship game at 3 p.m.
Lycoming was led by the lights-out sharpshooting of senior David Wilson (Pottsville, Pa.), who hit 6-of-8 from three-point land on his way to 23 points for the game. Five of Wilson’s treys came before halftime. His 20 first-half points led the blue and gold to a 36-27 lead at the break. Wilson was virtually a one-man show as no other Warrior had more than one basket in the first half.
Senior Kevin Morris (Camp Hill, Pa.) came alive with 14 second-half points to total 16 for the evening. Morris made three 3-pointers, his last at 3:25 giving Lycoming its largest lead of the game, 71-49.
Junior Greg Sye (Chantilly, Va.) and sophomore Ricky Varnell (Patterson, N.Y.) were strong in the paint, scoring nine points apiece. Sye led the Warriors with six rebounds. Morris, Wilson and sophomore point guard Eric Anthony (Wheeling, W.V.) secured four rebounds each. Anthony dished a team-high four assists.
Point guard Kyle Enoch led the Flying Dutchmen with 17 points, while Peter Ruth recorded 12 points and two blocks. Lebanon Valley’s largest lead of the game was four points early in the contest. The Dutchmen held a slim lead for much of the first half, but Wilson’s fifth basket from beyond the arc put the Warriors up for good at the 5:30 mark, going into halftime.
Despite Wilson’s blistering accuracy, the Warriors shot just 35.5 percent from the floor before the break, but stayed on top by hitting 9-of-11 foul shots. In the second half, Lycoming converted 51.7 percent of its shots.
Looking forward to Saturday, the Warriors host Widener, a team with which they split two regular season games in 2007-08. Widener took the first match-up 70-65 on Jan. 26 at home, while Lycoming won 75-68 at Lamade on Feb. 9.