LYCOMING MEN’S BASKETBALL TO PLAY FOR CONFERENCE TITLE AND NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH

WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Lycoming College men’s basketball team will travel to King’s College, Saturday evening, to play for the MAC Freedom Conference championship and the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs that comes with it. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $2 for students. Children under six will be admitted free. The game will also be broadcast on WRAK-AM (1400) by Ken Sawyer and Tom Losch.

Lycoming enters the title game with an overall record of 18-7 and a conference mark of 10-4. The Warriors advanced to the championship by defeating the University of Scranton 70-67 in the semifinals last Wednesday evening. Wilkes carries a 21-5 overall record into the game and a conference record of 10-4. The Monarchs outscored Wilkes University 89-84 in the semifinals to advance to the championship.

King’s earned the right to host the title contest as the tournament’s top seed due to a tiebreaker implemented by the MAC. Both Lycoming and King’s had identical results versus conference opponents, as well as common non-conference opponents. Thus the final criteria was point differential based on the Monarch’s 11-point victory over the Warriors on February 9, as compared to Lycoming’s two-point win over King’s on January 16.

The Warriors will be looking for their first Freedom Conference championship ever and their first trip to the NCAA playoffs since the 1995-96 season. The Monarchs hope to return to the national playoffs for the first time since the 1991-92 season while gaining their third conference title. King’s last conference championship came in the 1993-94 season.

Lycoming is led by junior point guard Tommy Wesner (Dillsburg, PA; Northern) who leads the team and Freedom Conference with a scoring average of 17.2 points per game. He also averages 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and has connected for 86 three-pointers on the year.

Sophomore Matt Stackhouse (Hughesville, PA; Hughesville) provides an inside complement to Wesner’s outside game. Stackhouse averages 13.4 points per game and leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per game. He has also become a force on defense with 47 blocked shots this season.

Seniors Chris Napier (Port Jervis, NY; Minisink Valley) and Jason Black (Duncannon, PA; Susquenita) are also potent offensive weapons for the Warriors. Napier is the second leading scorer on the team with a 15.9 points-per-game average. He also pulls down 6.6 rebounds per contest and has hit 50 three-point field goals. Black averages 10.3 points per game and leads the team with just over three assists each game. He also can hit from behind the arc as he has done 41 times this season.

Off the bench, Lycoming will look to senior Rob Johnson (Bradley Beach, NJ; Manasquan), sophomore L.J. Huggler (St. Mary’s, PA; St. Mary’s), and freshmen Curtis Mays (Philadelphia, PA; University City) and Matt Spears (Shamokin, PA; Shamokin) to provide quality minutes at both ends of the floor.

The Monarchs are led by senior power forward and team co-captain Dennis Hobbs with 14.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per-game. Junior forward Kasim Holloman follows with 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 42 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Dannie Evans contributes 12.5 points, 3.1 assists, and 60 three-pointers, while sophomore forward Brian Horgan has 11.7 points, 5.0 boards, 2.5 assists and 27 three-pointers.

But while the Hobbs, Holloman, Evans, and Horgan have carried the load and gained the most attention, the role players have also made major contributions that have weighed heavily in the team's success.  Junior center Steve Hite, sophomore guard Jamar Stokes, sophomore center Dave Marks, sophomore forward Jonathan Veet, and senior co-captain Emmet Donnelly have each executed their roles to near perfection. In King's win over Wilkes, the Monarchs placed seven players in double-figures scoring.

“Our major concerns are King’s quickness and offensive rebounding. But I have stressed to our team that all we need is a solid effort in order to win the game – meaning we don’t need an outstanding performance from just one player, but rather solid, consistent play from all five guys on the floor,” said Lycoming’s head coach Terry Conrad. “It has been a great year for us. The type of year that can really help build a program. One of our goals was to make it to this game, but we’re not satisfied, we want to take it the next level and get into the NCAAs.”