GLENSIDE, Pa. -- The Arcadia men's basketball team shook off a slow start and came roaring back to post a dominant 78-51 win over Lycoming on Friday night inside Alumni Gymnasium.
The Knights, who set a school record with their 12th straight win, improved to 15-2 overall and 9-0 in league play. The Warriors are now 7-11 overall and 1-8 in the league.
The Knights' 12th straight win eclipsed an 11-game win streak by the 1994-95 team that also started the season 15-2 en route to a 19-7 overall record. Arcadia held Lycoming to 26.9 percent (18-67) shooting, the 12th time AU has held its opponent under 40.0 percent on the season, and the Knights boasted a 52-28 edge on the glass.
Lycoming got off to a fast start, hitting three early triples and holding the Knights to 0 of 3 shooting with a pair of turnovers in racing out to a 10-1 lead by the 16:33 mark of the first half. The Scarlet & Grey answered with a 10-0 run as the offense found its rhythm and the defense stiffened. The Knights hit on six of their next 11 shots from the floor and held the Warriors to 0 of 9 shooting in taking an 14-10 lead on a Kyle Reilly trey by the 11:23 mark.
A three by the Warriors' Nasir Akram was answered by another triple from Reilly and the game settled into a back-and-forth affair as AU's lead hovered around four the remainder of the half. Arcadia eventually took a 36-30 lead into the break.
The Knights' slow start on offense to begin the game was a far cry from how Arcadia began the second half. Nine straight points by the Knights to begin the period, including five from Da'Kquan Davis, pushed the lead to 45-30 and prompted a Lycoming timeout with 17:43 to play.
The stoppage did little to stop the Knights' offensive barrage as the lead reached 20 points (52-32) by the 13:54 mark when Steve Pendleton converted in the lane. Jordan Sanders followed a pair of free throws by Will Derr with a layup and AU's lead reached 23 (58-35) with 11:43 to play.
A 15-5 burst by the Warriors pulled Lycoming to within 13 at 63-50 with 6:11 remaining, but Davis shut the door on any kind of comeback by knocking down back-to-back three pointers, Pierfy added a layup and Josh Scott followed with one of his own as the lead quickly swelled back to 23 (73-50) with 4:14 left.
The Knights shot 49.2 percent (29-59) from the field, including 7 of 20 from long range. Arcadia also shot 13 of 16 (.813) from the charity stripe, compared to 4 of 6 for the Warriors.
Davis led all scorers with 22 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the floor. He was 4 of 7 from long range and hit on 6 of 8 free throws to go with five rebounds and four assists. Evan Slone and Pendleton scored 10 points apiece, and Slone pulled down nine boards with three blocks. Pierfy chipped in eight points and eight rebounds, and Scott finished with eight points, eight rebounds and two assists.
D'Yante Doughty led the Warriors with 11 points and six rebounds. Darius Dangerfield added 10 points, and Matt Ilodigwe chipped in nine.
Arcadia will be in search of its 13th straight victory at Rosemont on Monday beginning at 7 p.m.