WARRIOR MEN’S BASKETBALL COMES UP SHORT AT DESALES;
FALL TO THIRD SEED FOR PLAYOFFS

CENTER VALLEY, PA – The Lycoming College men’s basketball team traveled to DeSales University, Saturday afternoon, looking to secure home-court throughout the Freedom Conference playoffs. The Warriors, however, struggled early and could not complete a second-half comeback falling 75-67 to the Bulldogs. The loss, combined with victories by Scranton and King’s, drops Lycoming to the number-three seed for the tournament. DeSales enters the post-season as the number-two seed and will host the Warriors for the second consecutive game on Wednesday, February 26. Lycoming ends the regular season with a record of 15-10 overall and 10-4 in the conference. The Bulldogs improve to 20-5 and 10-4.

The Warriors struggled with their shooting in the first half, hitting just 32.3% from the field. DeSales on the other hand connected on 57.7% of the their field goal attempts as they opened up a 40-25 halftime lead.

Lycoming chipped away at the Bulldogs’ advantage on multiple occasions in the second half but could never get the deficit less than seven as DeSales always seemed to have an answer.

Tommy Wesner (Sr./Dillsburg, PA; Northern) led the Warriors with a game-high 27 points, including five three-pointers. Matt Stackhouse (Jr./Hughesville, PA; Hughesville) added 18 points and 10 rebounds from the paint. Jonathan Pribble (Fr./Woolrich, PA; Central Mountain) chipped in 10 markers.

The Bulldogs were led by Brian Weller with 15 points on five triples. Michael Venafra added 13 points and Joe Teprovich kicked in 12 markers.

Lycoming and DeSales have split their two regular season meetings and will play again on Wednesday in the first round of the Freedom Conference playoffs. The other semifinal game will feature Scranton hosting King’s.