ALLIANCE, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team led by a dozen with just over eight minutes to play, but Lycoming College ended the game on a 25-11 run to defeat the Fightin' Quakers 75-73 at the Mount Union Holiday Classic on Wednesday evening.
The Warriors took a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes, but Wilmington responded with one of its best defensive stands of the year. Lycoming did not score a single point for six minutes, and the Quakers used baskets from four individuals including two triples from Collmann Aaron to build a 16-7 advantage midway through the half. It took Lycoming the same amount of time, six minutes, to erase the deficit as a Mavin James basket at the 5:44 mark tied the game 20-20. Neither team led by more than four points for the rest of the first half as a Noah Dado layup made the score 37-34 at the break.
The Quakers maintained the advantage and pushed it to double digits (51-41) with an Andrew Clark triple at the 14:20 mark. The lead grew a point more a couple possessions later, and though the Warriors got within eight two different times, consecutive layups from Travis Mitchell put Wilmington up 62-50 with 8:22 to play. Lycoming then got hot, scoring on 8-of-10 possessions including four triples to turn the dozen-point deficit into a 69-67 advantage. After a single free throw, another Warrior triple made the score 73-67 with just over a minute to play.
Two Jeffery Mansfield layups with a Lycoming turnover sandwiched in between got the Quakers to a one-point deficit at 73-72, and the Warriors converted two free throws after being intentionally fouled with three seconds left. Up three, Lycoming elected to foul on purpose rather than risk a potential game-tying triple. Mansfield missed the first, forcing an intentional miss on the second. Dado got the offensive board and kicked it out to Aaron, who was 3-of-5 from distance on the night, for a game-tying attempt. The senior was fouled unintentionally and had a chance to tie the game with three made free throws. Aaron missed the first, and after making the second, couldn't replicate Mansfield's intentional miss and offensive board from moments earlier and Lycoming escaped with a come-from-behind win.
Both teams shot 49 percent from the field with Wilmington making five more baskets, but Lycoming made three more triples (10-7) and was 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) from the line compared to a 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) performance from the Quakers. The Warriors also won the rebounding battle 36-34.
All five Lycoming starters scored in double figures with Mo Terry and Steven Hamilton leading the way with 19 points. Dyson Harward added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. For Wilmington, four Quakers - Mansfield (19), Aaron (14), Dado (12) and Mitchell (10) scored in double figures. Mansfield flirted with a triple-double, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists while Dado did complete a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Wilmington (2-8) opens the New Year with an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) contest against Capital University on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
