Amidst chants of “Let’s Go Ly-co” and “De-fense”, head coach Don Friday’s squad came back from several five-point deficits and showed that they are more than ready for intense Freedom Conference play in the next month.
Down by two at the half, Lycoming pressured Carnegie Mellon into questionable second-half shooting. But, with 1:32 left in the game, the Tartans’ Corey O’Rourke stuck a jumper that evened the score at 62.
Clutch foul-shooting by sophomore Greg Sye and junior David Wilson put the Warriors up 66-62, but a Carnegie Mellon three-pointer and subsequent Lycoming turnover kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. On the in-bounds play, the Warriors’ solid defense kept the Tartans from getting off a shot, and secured a victory.
Sye led the Warriors with 24 points, while gobbling up a team-high eight rebounds. The sophomore converted several acrobatic baskets under the hoop and stood strong against Carnegie Mellon’s fleet of big men.
Continuing his remarkably consistent scoring, co-captain Wilson put up double-digit points (13) for the eleventh time in fourteen games. Fellow guard Anthony Watson had arguably his finest game, attacking the basket and dishing the rock with determination. His five rebounds were a personal-high on the season.
Jemayne Nowlin and co-captain Matt McGair also had fine games. All-in-all the entire Warrior team played tough and put in a great performance.
The Warriors are home again on Wednesday night as they face King’s at 8:00 p.m. It is the first of nine Freedom Conference match-ups to close out Lycoming’s regular season. The contest will be preceded by a women’s game at 6:00.