Raritan Valley Rallies for Third Straight Region Championship
Scranton, PA-With 3:44 left in the second half of the Region XIX Men's Division II Championship game, the Raritan Valley Men's Basketball team's hopes of winning their third title in a row seemed out of reach. The team trailed 71-64, without Region XIX Player of the Year (FR Najee Graham) in the lineup, with their shots not falling, FR Jaquis Davis (the team's hottest 3-point shooter) had just fouled out, and #3 seed Lackawanna College's players seemed like they were making every shot and getting all of the breaks. Somehow in a contest that will be remembered for a long time by all who witnessed it the Lions were able to turn the tide, capture the momentum and ride a stifling full court press and clutch free throws to a 76-75 victory, completing the third straight championship run for Coach Kevin Ryan and his squad.
Out of a timeout in the final four minutes, FR Alamin Gadson, converted a three point play off of a turnover created by the pesky defense of FR Susan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick immediately stole the inbound pass and fed Gadson cutting to the basket for another layup where he was fouled. Gadson missed the free throw attempt, but the Lions had cut the lead to only 2 points, with 3:05 to play. After another defensive stop, FR Miles Whye collected an offensive rebound and converted a contested layup in the paint to tie the game at 71 a piece. Lackawanna continued to answer back. Lackawanna FR Evan Laybourne-Baddie who finished with a game high 30 points, converted consecutive layups to put the Falcons back in front 75-71. These would be the Falcons last points of the night.
In what was the overall theme of the game that featured nine ties and seventeen lead changes, Raritan Valley sprinted down the floor and answered back once again. This time FR Raydelh Boutin, who finished as the RVCC high scorer with 19 points, hit a corner three to draw the Lions within one, with 1:23 to play. Boutin and the Lion's defense forced an offensive foul on the Falcons and gained possession with 45 seconds to play. After a mad scramble in the paint and a series of offensive rebounds and second chances, Fitzpatrick was fouled and converted two clutch, high pressure free throws to put the Lions in front and close out the scoring with 14.4 seconds left. The Lions defense would hold up and kept the Falcons from scoring despite having a good look at a last second three pointer.
The Lions move to 19-13 on the season and earn a place in next weekend's East District Championship round for the third straight year. Next weekend's contest will have a spot in the National NJCAA Division II Tournament on the line. Today's contests in NJCAA Region III will determine the location of Saturday's contest.