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Sophomore Connor Shanahan hit all seven shots from the field that he took in the first half, helping lead him to a career-high 29 points for the Lycoming College men's basketball team, but Wilkes University rebounded from a slow start to post an 86-72 Landmark Conference win on Wednesday night at Lamade Gym.
Shanahan finished 10 of 16 from the field, hitting four 3-pointers and five free throws to finish with 29 points to go with three assists and two steals for the Warriors (2-16 overall, 1-10 Landmark). Senior Ivan Komitski (Sofia, Bulgaria/Lee Academy) added 18 points, four rebounds and four assists, sophomore Hayden Pardoe, a Central Mountain graduate, added nine points and four rebounds and junior Isaiah Valentine added eight points, four rebounds and two steals. Freshman Princeton Layton added six points, five rebounds and two steals.
After Wilkes (13-5 overall, 7-4 Landmark) started the game with a layup, the Warriors rolled out on a 24-5 run, with Shanahan getting back-to-back steals for transition layups to cap the run. Twelve of Shanahan's 21 first-half points came during the run, while Komitski added seven.
The Warriors kept the double-digit lead until there was five minutes left in the half when the Colonels were in the midst of a 15-point run that tied the game at 31. The Warriors fought back and took a two-point lead into the break, as Shanahan scored six points in the last two minutes of the period.
Wilkes started the second half on a 13-4 run to lead 48-41 four minutes into the half, but the Warriors fought back to tie the game at 50 after a coast-to-coast steal to layup from Pardoe. From there, the teams went through two ties and four lead changes before a pair of free throws from Shanahan tied the game at 70 with 5:59 left.
However, Wilkes pulled away, as Lycoming scored its last bucket with 30 seconds left, after Wilkes had scored 14 points in a row.
Wilkes was led by 19 points and three assists from Cayden Merrifield, 18 points and 11 rebounds from Joey Zvorsky and 16 points and four 3-pointers from Colin Ackerman.
The Warriors get back on the court on Saturday, Feb. 1, when they head to Drew University for the backend of a Landmark Conference doubleheader at 4 p.m.
Wilkes 86, Lycoming 72
WILKES (13-5, 7-2 LANDMARK)
Lucas Lesko 3-12 1-2 7; Eli Becker 4-8 0-0 8; Cayden Merrifield 6-9 5-6 19; Zoey Zvorsky 8-9 0-0 18; Jack Argento 4-11 0-0 8; Colin Ackerman 5-6 4-8 16; Mason Fedor 2-3 0-0 4; Daniel Santaniello 0-1 0-0 0; Issac Thomas 3-3 0-0 6; Travis Linn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-62 10-16 86.
LYCOMING (2-16, 1-10 LANDMARK)
Hayden Pardoe 3-8 3-3 9; Ethan Bomgardner 1-1 0-0 2; Isaiah Valentine 2-12 3-3 8; Ivan Komitski 5-15 5-6 18; Connor Shanahan 10-16 5-7 29; Noah Mathis 0-1 0-0 0; PRinceton Layton 3-3 0-0 6; Gyasi Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 16-19 72.
Halftime: Lycoming 37-35. 3-point goals: Wilkes 6-16 (Merrifield 2-4, Zvorsky 2-2, Ackerman 2-2, Becker 0-1, Argento 0-3, Lesko 0-4), Lycoming 8-24 (Shanahan 4-6, Komitski 3-7, Valentine 1-6, Mathis 0-1, Pardoe 0-4). Fouled out: Wilkes-none; Lycoming-none. Rebounds: Wilkes 40 (Zvorsky 11), Lycoming 24 (Layton 5). Assists: Wilkes 16 (Argento 5), Lycoming 9 (Komitski 4). Technical fouls: Wilkes-none; Lycoming-Shanahan. Total fouls: Wilkes 17, Lycoming 13. A: 165.