MADISON, NJ – Marcus Mitchell's drive to the basket in the closing seconds of a 66-66 contest led to the ball bouncing towards the baseline and into the hands of
Brandon Lavitt, whose made layup with 1.4 seconds left sent as the Susquehanna men's basketball team into a panic as they defeated Drew in the Landmark Semifinals, 68-66, Thursday night. The River Hawks head to Catholic this Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup in hopes of clinching their third Landmark championship since 2020. They have appeared in three of the last four championship games.
Lavitt's game-winner capped off a 19-point, nine-rebound game for the sophomore, making 8-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-3 on a perfect night from the charity stripe. Mitchell found plenty of chances at the free throw line in his 14-point night to finish second on the team, making 9-of-11 to go with one 3-pointer, six rebounds, and three assists.
Cooper Haberern was next up with ten points and ten rebounds for his third double-double of the season. As a team the River Hawks outshot the Rangers from all three aspects of the game at 44.2% from the floor (23-52), 38.5% from beyond the arc (5-13), and 77.3% from the foul line (17-22). Drew shot 36.9% from the floor (24-65), 16.7% from three-point range (5-30), and 61.9% from the free throw line (13-21).
Out of the gate Drew's Andrew Turco hit one of the team's five shots from deep, giving them an early lead. Lavitt answered right back with an and-one layup, making the free throw attempt to match the three-point shot from Drew. Both teams missed a jumper their next time down the floor, with each team making a layup not long after the misses. Mitchell hit his only shot from deep of the night to put the River Hawks up 8-5 early in the contest. The Rangers answered back quickly with a layup, steal, three-point shot, another steal, and a jumper to grow their lead to four points. Both teams went into a scoring drought over the next two minutes, being broken up by a Ranger layup. The River Hawks stayed scoreless for another two minutes until a
Billy Anderson layup got them back on the board, making the score 14-10 in favor of the Rangers.
The last 10 minutes of the half had both teams trading scoring runs with the River Hawks going on a 6-0 run in one minute of play countered by a similar stretch from Drew. The two teams trade buckets back and forth for the final five minutes of the half, with the score after the first half of play being 24-24. "We knew that we needed to keep the score low because they (Drew University) want to score a lot of points," said head coach
Frank Marcinek after the game, while also noting that the lockdown defense the team played in the first half helped them to keep the game close.
Both teams traded layups to being the half and after a couple of steals the Rangers quickly go up 30-26 with 17:48 left in the contest. Mitchell and Lavitt combined for the next seven points as Mitchell hit one of two free throws, Lavitt a layup after a strong drive to the basket, and Mitchell again having his own strong drive for a layup. The next time down the floor Lavitt was fouled and made both of his attempts from the line, extending their lead to three points with just over four minutes played in the half. The two teams traded layups before a pair of Drew fouls and a turnover sent Mitchell to the line once more where he made both attempts to give the River Hawks a 37-32 lead.
The River Hawks held the lead throughout the next nine minutes until a Drew layup thrusted them back in front for a 59-58 lead. During the nine minutes of back-and-forth scoring Susquehanna led by as much as eight points. Mike Pirone and Haberern helped erase the deficit to gain the lead back after two free throws made by Pirone and a mid-ranger jumper made by Haberern. Throughout the next three-and-a-half minutes the two teams traded free throws until Drew tied it a 66-66 with 1:38 left in the contest.
Stellar defense by the River Hawks led to four missed shots for the Rangers with Lavitt finally able to secure a rebound with 17 seconds left. A delay in the game gave Coach Marcinek time to draw up a play for their last possession of the game. After some passing around the outside, Mitchell drove into the lane, being stopped by two Ranger defenders. The ball dribbled its way down low to Lavitt, who finished strong at the rim to give the River Hawks a 68-66 lead with 1.4 seconds left in the game. A hail marry pass to half court by Drew was stolen away by Lavitt to end an exciting game and extend Susquehanna's season by at least two more days.
Tickets for Saturday's Landmark Championship can be purchased through the Landmark Conference's website or by going to suriverhawks.com/hoops. The River Hawks and Cardinals split the season series with each taking a home victory. Susquehanna took a 77-74 win back on Dec. 6 that marked head coach
Frank Marcinek's 500th career win. The Cardinals claimed a 75-67 victory on Jan. 24. Susquehanna's road to the title game features a 17-10 overall record with a 12-6 conference mark, beating Goucher in the quarterfinals handily 85-59. The top-seeded Cardinals made their way in thanks to a 23-3 record and 16-2 Landmark ledger, yet faced as challenging a Landmark Semifinals game as the River Hawks did, staving off a hungry Wilkes squad by a 93-88 score.
While Thursday's win meant primarily that the River Hawks return to the Landmark title game, it also settled a score with the Rangers to edge out the season series 2-1 and avenge their defeat at Drew this past Saturday. Susquehanna took the first matchup with Drew by an 83-78 score at the Palestra on Jan 14.
