Warriors' Streak Snapped with Late Push from Scranton
Tying Buzzer-Beater Falls Off Rim
Box Score

SCRANTON, Pa. --- Lycoming men’s basketball saw its five-game run snapped and a tying buzzer-beater hit off the rim at the University of Scranton on Tuesday evening as the Warriors fell to the Royals 82-79 in a Freedom Conference showdown.  Lycoming drops to 14-10 overall, 8-5 in league play while Scranton moves to 18-6, 10-3. 

Combined with King’s College’s 69-66 victory, Scranton clinches at least a second in the upcoming conference tournament.  Lycoming’s playoff hopes remain in limbo.  DeSales University, two games behind the Warriors at the beginning of today’s play, defeated Delaware Valley College 62-43 to move within one game of the Warriors in the conference standings.  Wilkes University remains tied with Lycoming after losing to King’s College 69-66.  The easiest scenario for Lycoming to clinch a spot in the playoffs would be for the Warriors to win this Saturday against Delaware Valley.  A loss would bring into play several other scenarios.

Scranton used late heroics to come back from a double-digit mid-second half deficit and stave off the Warriors’ run towards clinching a playoff berth.  With 2:14 to play, Lycoming senior Brad Musser (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) added two free throws coming out of the timeout, but Scranton’s Randy Arnold drove the length of the court to reclaim the Royals’ seven-point margin.  Sophomore Kevin Morris (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) breathed a little extra life into the Warriors’ cause with a three-pointer to cut the lead to four, and Musser cashed out the hoop-and-the-harm to bring Lycoming within one with 1:05 on the clock.

Ryan Kirk made both ends of a one-and-one to move Scranton back out by three.  On the ensuing possession, Musser had the tying three-pointer all-but-in before it rattled out forcing the Warriors to foul.  James Powell missed the front end of the one-and-one with Lycoming senior Jonathan Pribble (Woolrich, Pa./Central Mountain) pulling down the board.  Freshman Greg Sye (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) worked around his man for a lay-up to pull back within one with 10.5 seconds to play.

Kirk, back at the line with 5.2 seconds on the clock, made both throws to push the lead back to three.  Pribble raced down the right wing off the inbounds and pulled up about 30-feet away for the tying shot with a defender draped on him.  The attempt looked on target through the air, but drew iron and fell harmlessly to the floor.

Pribble led all scorers with 27 points including four makes from beyond the arc.  He also pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out four assists.  Musser also earned a double-double on the evening with 14 points and 10 assists.  Sye scored in double-digits as well with 10 points.

Arnold paced the Royals with 24 points to go with five assists and four steals.  Darren Cannon dropped in five-of-six three-pointers on his way to 19 points, and Kirk added 11 to the effort.

The lead moved back and forth over the first five minutes of the game, with plenty of three pointers falling through the net. Kirk knocked down one and Cannon two for Scranton, with Musser tossing one in for Lycoming.  Pribble closed the Warriors to within one at 11-10 with a pair of free throws with 14:40 on the clock.  Sophomore Matt McGair (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Moorestown) stepped in front of a post pass on the Scranton’s next possession with Pribble promptly turning it into his first three-point make of the night.  Pribble struck again on the next trip down the court, driving the lane from the left side and laying it in for a 15-11 lead with 13:30 to play.

Sophomore Dave Wilson (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) moved the Warriors’ run out to 8-0 with a foul line jumper, but Arnold came right back with a three from the left angle.  Wilson answered immediately, this time with a deep jumper from the far corner to make the score 19-14 in favor of Lycoming.

The Warriors gave the Royals a break at the 11:17 mark with their seventh team foul, putting them in the bonus for the remainder of the half.  Bicknell made only one of those free tosses, keeping the Warriors’ lead at five, 21-16.  Arnold brought Scranton to within three with his second three-pointer of the half, but freshman Jemayne Nowlin (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) returned the favor for a 24-19 Lycoming advantage.

Scranton took the lead at the 8:20 mark following a nice post move from Bicknell and a couple of technical free throw tosses from Arnold.  After freshman Matt Clemons (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) evened the score with a free throw, Cannon put the Royals up 28-25 with a deep three-pointer.  Scranton added more to its edge with a pair of free throws from Michael Riccobono on its next possession, but Nowlin pared the score down to 30-28 with his second long-distance hit of the half.

Morris and Cannon traded lay-ups on the next trip down the floor for each team, keeping Scranton ahead 32-30 with 5:54 to play.  Musser gave the Warriors the lead with his second three-pointer of the stanza, and Nowlin upped the ante with his third triple of the frame for a 37-32 edge with 4:30 on the clock.

Pribble improved the Warriors’ lead to 40-34 with his second make from beyond the arc coming off a strong Morris screen, but Arnold carved into the edge with his third three-pointer with 2:39 left to play.  Arnold moved the Royals to within one at 40-39 with pull-up jumper at the edge of the lane, but Morris pushed it back out to a deuce with a free throw at the 1:03 mark.

Musser gave the Warriors a five-point lead with 11.5 seconds to play after a lay-up and free toss.  Arnold added a pair from the charity stripe to bring the Royals closer going into the half down 44-41.

Play started a bit ugly for the Warriors in the second half with a pair of turnovers and an easy lay-up by Bicknell, but Morris canned 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled outside the arc.  Pribble added two more with an acrobatic lay-in through the lane, and Baylor cashed out a three-pointer to give the Warriors a 51-44 lead with 17:06 on the clock.

Sye, saddled with two early fouls in the first half, came up big defensively a couple of possessions later with a block of Bicknell that led to Pribble’s third long-distance hit of the game and a 10-point Warrior advantage.

After Ryan Fitzpatrick knocked down a pair from the line, Pribble turned an outstanding interior pass from Musser into his second high-flying lay-up.  A couple of possessions later, Pribble nailed a toe-on-the-line jumper to bring the Warriors back out to a 10-point lead at 60-50.  Fitzpatrick brought the Royals to within four with two straight three-pointers, the latter from the far wing with 11:21 to play.

Fitzpatrick tried to make it a two-point game following a Warrior timeout, but senior Patrick Baylor (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O’Hara) came up strong with a block while on transition to deny the effort.  Instead, Kirk took care of the chore with a jumper just inside the arc the next time down the floor.  Sye moved the edge back out to four at 62-58 with a lunging lay-up in the paint, but Bill Burke came back for the Royals with a traditional three-point play with 9:07 to play.

Cannon surrounded a Sye lay-up with a pair of long-distance connections, and a Warrior turnover off an inbounds pass after the second made attempt gave the Royals a timeout-inducing 69-64 lead with 6:52 remaining.

Pribble cut the lead down to two with another trey, this one coming off a pick at the top of the key.  Burke used a free throw to move it back to a three-point edge, and Arnold pushed it back to five with a hanging jumper at the 5:14 mark.  Baylor again cut the lead down with an easy lay-in, but two Arnold free tosses brought it back to five.  Bicknell added two more off a tip-in with 2:29 to play, leading to Scranton’s fortune over the final few minutes.

Lycoming caps the regular season next Saturday, February 18, as the Warriors welcome Delaware Valley College to Lamade Gymnasium for a Freedom Conference match up and a spot in the league postseason tournament.  Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.  You can catch all the action live over the Internet as WRLC-FM’s crew of Jimmy Osborne and Josh Williard bring all the plays to your computer via the MSA Sports Network.