GLENSIDE, Pa. – The third-seeded Arcadia University men's basketball team dropped a wild 78-73 decision to fifth-seeded Lycoming College Saturday night in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Game before a near capacity crowd at Alumni Gymnasium.
 
Freshman Kyle Reilly wasted no time getting the scoring started, taking the opening tip straight to the hole; however the Warriors (19-9) shot nearly 79% during a 33-12 run over the next 9:50 to jump out to a 33-14 lead midway through the opening frame.
 
The Knights (17-10) trailed by as many as 23 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half before going into the locker room down 42-26. The Warriors shot 60 percent (15-25) from the field in the first half, including a 4 for 6 performance from three, while Arcadia shot just 34 percent (10-29) from the field in the opening period and was just 2 of 9 from three.
 
The Scarlet and Grey came storming back in the second half, going on a 31-16 surge that pulled them back within one after senior Alex Cohen's layup made it 74-73 with 15 seconds to go in the contest. Lycoming answered quickly as Nykolas King hit David Johnson with a touchdown pass beyond midcourt for a breakaway layup that put the Warriors up three, 76-73.
 
Arcadia inbounded the ball to senior John Landro following a timeout, but he couldn't hang on to the ball and was called for a double dribble with just seven seconds to go. He was then called for a foul trying to steal the ball off the Warriors' inbounding play, and David Johnson hit both free throws for the 78-73 final.
 
The Knights' second half comeback bid came behind a 55.2 percent (16-29) shooting effort. Junior Ryan Kelley led the way with 12 points over the final 20 minutes on 5 of 7 shooting, Cohen added nine points in the frame on 4 of 6 shooting. The Scarlet and Grey were helped by a 4 of 7 showing from distance in the half. Arcadia's defense held Lycoming to 40.6 percent (13-32) shooting in the period, with Chris Wallace posting 12 points and Johnson adding 10. The Warriors were held scoreless (0-6) from beyond the arc in the half.
 
Reilly led the way for Arcadia with 16 points, as Kelley (14), Cohen (11) and Landro (11) all reached double figures as the Scarlet and Grey shot 44.8% from the field. The Knights made the most of their free throws converting 75 percent (15-20) from the line on the night.
 
At the end of the night, Lycoming posted a 49.1 percent (28-57) field goal percentage. Though they took 11 more free throw attempts than the Knights, the Warriors shot just 58.1% from the charity stripe. Alex Newbold led all scorers with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting, followed by Wallace with 16 points.
 
The Warriors advance to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament after claiming the MAC Commonwealth's automatic bid to the tournament. The Knights will await the selection of the NCAA and ECAC tournament fields to see if their season will continue.