WARRIOR MEN’S HOOPS STUNG BY YELLOW JACKETS  

ASHLAND, VA – The Lycoming College men’s basketball team had what was turning into a Cinderella season come to an end Saturday evening with a 79-62 loss to Randolph-Macon College in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Warriors finish the 2001-2002 campaign with a record of 20-8. The Yellow Jackets improved to 24-5 and will advance to the sweet-16 to face Otterbein College on Friday, March 8.

The first half featured six lead changes and eight tied scores as both teams looked to gain an advantage. Randolph-Macon made the first move pulling ahead by six late in the period, but an 8-2 run by Lycoming over the final 2:04 knotted the game at 36-36 at intermission. Tommy Wesner (Jr./Dillsburg, PA; Northern) led the Warriors with 12 points through the first 20 minutes. Matt Stackhouse (So./Hughesville, PA; Hughesville) added seven points as Lycoming was fairly successful at establishing its inside-out game.

In the second half it was again the home team that made the first move. An 11-2 run by the Yellow Jackets early in the period put them ahead by 11. They extended their lead to 12 with just under nine minutes to play before the Warriors came storming back as they have done so many times this season. Wesner sparked the run with back-to-back triples and then added a lay-up that pulled Lycoming within six with 7:30 to play.

Randolph-Macon, however, did not blink and regained the momentum when Ryan Stein answered with a pair of three-pointers of his own to put the Yellow Jackets back in front by 12. The Warriors added just two points the rest of the way as they were forced to take tough shots by a tenacious Randolph-Macon defense. Solid free throw shooting down the stretch gave the Yellow Jackets the 79-62 victory.

“We’ve been in games like this all season,” said Lycoming head coach Terry Conrad. “I don’t think anybody panicked when we got down, we just didn’t hit the big shots like we have in other games. That’s definitely a credit to their defense. They got after us all game and maybe we were a little tired having just played Thursday.”

Wesner led all scorers in the game with 26 points, including six three-pointers. He also led the squad with four assists and three steals. Stackhouse added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds. He also blocked one shot to give him 49 for the season – a new single-season record for the program. Jason Black (Sr./Duncannon, PA; Susquenita) scored eight points in the game and came just three points shy of 1,000 for his career. Chris Napier (Sr./Port Jervis, NY; Minisink Valley) had his career come to an end with seven points and five rebounds in the game.