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CENTER VALLEY — Sophomore Dyson Harward scored a game-high 15 points, but it wasn't enough for the Lycoming College men's basketball team, which dropped a hard-fought battle to DeSales on the road, 63-59, in its MAC Freedom regular-season finale Saturday.
The back-and-forth contest featured four ties and six lead changes over the final 13:30 of game time, but the Bulldogs (9-1 overall) scored nine of the game's final 14 points in the last 5:17 to prevail.
Overall, Lycoming (4-2 overall) shot 36.8% (21-of-57) from the field and DeSales shot 49.1% (27-of-55) from the floor and received 33 points from its bench players.
After trailing by as many as 18 points at 26-8 with 6:30 remaining in the first half, Lycoming fired back, finishing the first half of a 20-6 run in large part to senior Darius Dangerfield scoring all nine of his points for the game during that stretch. Dangerfield also dished off a team-best five assists. The Warriors made just three of their first 15 field goal attempts. However, they promptly turned it around by sinking eight of their next nine to limit DeSales to just a four-point halftime lead.
Lycoming picked off right where it left off at the start of the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to just five points and 2-of-8 shooting in the first 6:30 of play after the break, finally getting its first lead after freshman Steven Hamilton sunk a pair of free throws to make it 38-37 with 13:24 to play.
Shortly after, Lycoming built its largest lead of the game at 46-41 with 11:12 remaining, when Harward sunk a mid-range jumper the possession after freshman Brendon Blackson converted on his third and final 3-pointer of the contest off an assist from Dangerfield.
Blackson tied his career-high with 11 points off a 3-of-5 shooting display from deep. He also notched a game-high four steals and three assists.
Sophomore Mo Terry was another key contributor for the Warriors, as he posted a season-best 14 points by shooting 5-of-9 from the field.
The Bulldogs were very balanced on offense, as nine of their 10 players who saw floor time on Saturday scored at least one bucket. At the top of their points leaderboard was Elijah Eberly, who posted 12 off a 6-of-9 shooting performance.
The Warriors will get back on the floor against DeSales in the MAC Freedom Championship game on either Thursday or Friday.
DESALES 63, LYCOMING 59
LYCOMING (4-2,4-2 MAC Freedom)
Dyson Harward 5-12 2-3 15; Mo Terry 5-9 3-4 14; Brendon Blackson 4-9 0-0 11; Darius Dangerfield 4-10 0-0 9; Steven Hamilton 2-3 2-2 6; D’Andre Edmond 1-2 2-2 4; DeAundre Manuel 0-6 0-0 0; Danilo Petrovic 0-0 0-0 0; Mavin James 0-1 0-0 0; Tobias Walden Jr. 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Ilodigwe 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 9-11 59.
DESALES (9-1,7-1 MAC Freedom)
Elijah Eberly 6-9 0-0 12; Dat Lambert 3-7 2-2 11; Timmy Edwards 5-11 0-0 10; Aidan Ellwood 4-10 0-1 8; Darnell Vaughan Jr. 3-4 1-1 7; Mason Barnes 2-6 0-0 5; Keba Mitchell 2-3 1-2 5; Jordan Holmqvist 1-1 0-0 3; Ryan Boylan 1-3 0-0 2; Will Pollick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 4-6 63.
Halftime: DeSales, 32-28. 3-point goals: Lycoming 8-22 (Blackson 3-5; Harward 3-7; Dangerfield 1-3; Terry 1-3; James 0-1; Ilodigwe 0-3), DeSales 5-15 (Lambert 3-7; Barnes 1-3; Holmqvist 1-1; Ellwood 0-3; Edwards 0-1). Fouled out: Lycoming-none, DeSales-none. Rebounds: Lycoming 29 (Manuel 6), DeSales 37 (Boylan 7). Assists: Lycoming 9 (Dangerfield 5), DeSales 18 (Barnes 6). Total fouls: Lycoming 12, DeSales 12. Technical fouls: Lycoming-none, DeSales-none.