WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Down a point at halftime, the top-seeded Lycoming College men's basketball team regrouped, refocused and outran fifth-seeded Lebanon Valley, putting up 51 points in the second half and cruising to a school-record 22nd win, 88-64, in the MAC Commonwealth Championship semifinals on Wednesday night, Feb. 22, at Lamade Gym.
The Warriors (22-4 overall) advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship, where they will try to defend a conference crown for the first time in school history, when they host Albright College (13-13 overall) at Lamade Gym on Saturday, Feb. 25. Game time will be announced on Thursday on athletics.lycoming.edu.
The Warriors surpassed the previous-best mark of 21 wins set in 1995-96, 2003-04 and 2009-10, and stopped a string of two years in a row where the first round game winner went on to upset the top seed and win the tournament with a fast-paced effort, scoring 24 points in transition, 54 in the paint and 27 off 21 Dutchmen turnovers.
Senior David Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa./Communications Tech) led the team with 23 points and a career-high five steals and junior Chris Wallace (Randallstown, Md./Calvert Hall) added 16 points, a career-high seven steals and five rebounds to lead the Warriors. Junior Alex Newbold (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) hit all seven of his field goal attempts, finishing with 15 points.
The Warriors took the lead with the first shot of the second half and never let it go, as Newbold hit a layup and then came up with a steal for a fastbreak layup by Johnson. Eight more straight points followed to get the lead to double figures and Lycoming never let the Dutchmen (16-11 overall) back within 10 in the final 15 minutes, expanding the lead to as many as 27 with 1:14 left at 86-59.
The Warriors shot an impossibly hot 61 percent (19-of-31) in the half while holding the Dutchmen to 7-of-23 (30 percent) and 25 percent from 3 (3-of-12). The Warriors hot shooting also came at the free throw line, hitting 9-of-10 in the period after starting the game 2-of-8.
The Warriors were out to run early in the game, with Newbold scoring on back-to-back fastbreak buckets to make it 8-4 with 16:15 left and forcing Lebanon Valley to take a timeout. The Dutchmen answered back, taking a 21-16 lead, but the Warriors got back to their fast-playing ways, getting a nine-point advantage at 36-27 with 5:32 left off an inventive ¾ court pass from Newbold as he fell out of bounds and then on the other side of the court, senior Nyk King (Harlem, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science & Math) saved it to Johnson, who hit the open layup.
The Dutchmen controlled the rest of the half, though, using an 11-1 run in the final five and a half minutes to take a one-point lead into the break.
Andy Orr led the Dutchmen with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Sam Light finished with 18 points and two steals.