A balanced offensive performance that featured three players in double figures and a suffocating defensive stretch midway through the second half propelled the Lycoming College men’s basketball team to a 72-55 Landmark Conference victory over Wilkes on Wednesday inside Lamade Gymnasium.

Senior guard Isaiah Valentine poured in 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting, hitting two 3‒pointers while adding six rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Hayden Pardoe, a Central Mountain graduate, matched him with 17 points, knocking down three 3‒pointers and collecting six rebounds. Junior guard Connor Shanahan added 11 first-half points in 18 productive minutes to help lift the Warriors (5-13 overall, 1-10 Landmark) to its first win in conference play against the fourth-place Colonels (11-7 overall, 6-5 Landmark).

It was also the Warriors’ first win in six meetings against the Colonels, a streak dating back to a 69-67 overtime win in Lamade Gym on Jan. 26, 2023, when both teams were members of the MAC Freedom.

Freshman forward Charlie Sims sparked the offense off the bench with eight points, including a pair of threes, sophomore Princeton Layton added nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks and freshman Noa’Sosa Friedman posted seven points and four rebounds.

Wilkes opened the game on a 7-2 run before the Warriors ran off seven straight points, taking the lead after a steal and fastbreak bucket from Pardoe. After rolling through four more lead changes and three ties, Lycoming seized momentum. Tied at 16 with 7:57, the Warriors finished the half on a 14-8 run, with a turnaround jumper from senior J.J. Beagle, a Williamsport graduate, giving Lycoming a 30-24 lead at the break.

The Warriors opened the second half with seven straight points. Layton, Pardoe and Sims combined for three straight baskets run that pushed the lead to 39-24, and a Valentine 3-pointer made it 46-29 with 15:24 left. Wilkes cut the deficit to nine with 4:25 left, but Lycoming answered with a 3-pointer from Pardoe, kicking off a 13-4 run to finish the game.

Wilkes was led by Jack Argento’s 15 points and seven rebounds, and Eli Becker added 12 points and 11 boards. However, the Warriors’ 9 3‒pointers, 12 assists, and a plus-two rebounding edge over the Landmark Conference’s leading rebounding team (40.3 per game) proved too much for the Colonels to overcome.

Lycoming hosts Drew University on Saturday in a 2 p.m. Landmark matchup in Lamade Gym.

Lycoming 72, Wilkes 55

WILKES (11-7, 6-5 LANDMARK)

Lucas Lesko 5-16 1-2 12, Eli Becker 3-10 6-7 12, Colin Ackerman 2-10 2-2 6, DanieL Santaniello 2-4 2-2 8, Jack Argento 5-9 5-6 15, Mason Fedor 0-1 0-0 0, Brendan Styer 0-2 0-0 0, Antonio Brittain 0-1 0-0 0, Travis Linn 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Thomas 1-4 0-0 2, Brian Britton 0-3 0-0 0, Drew Sechleer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 16-19 55.

LYCOMING (5-13, 1-10 LANDMARK)

Hayden Pardoe 7-10 0-0 17, JJ Beagle 1-5 0-0 2, Isaiah Valentine 7-11 1-3 17, Noa’Sosa Friedman 3-5 1-2 7, Princeton Layton 2-8 4-4 9, Noah Mathis 0-0 1-2 1, Elisha Slabach 0-4 0-0 0, Connor Shanahan 4-11 2-2 11, Charlie Sims 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 27-59 9-14 72.

Halftime: Lycoming 30-24. 3-point goals: Wilkes 3-24 (Santaniello 2-3, Lesko 1-6, Styer 0-1, Fedor 0-1, Argento 0-2, Becker 0-2, Ackerman 0-4), Lycomig 9-20 (Pardoe 3-4, Valentine 2-5, Sims 2-4, Shanahan 1-1, Layto 1-2, Beagle 0-1, Slabach 0-3). Fouled out: Wilkes-none; Lycoming-none. Rebounds: Wilkes 37 (Becker 11), Lycoming 39 (Layton 8). Assists: Wilkes 11 (Argento 5), Lycoming 12 (Sims 3, Shanahan 3, Valentine 3). Technical fouls: Wilkes-none; Lycoming-none. Total fouls: Wilkes 13, Lycoming 17.