Kats Take Two at NCCC Invitational

Sanborn, NY- The Erie Community College men's basketball team won both games at the Niagara County Community College Tip-Off Classic.  

On Saturday, the Kats faced Lackawanna College and held on to defeat the Falcons 84-82 in a wild, back and forth contest which saw 13 different lead changes.  The Kats would once again have a slow start, allowing Lackawanna to jump out to an early lead before before applying some tough defense to go ahead by as much as ten points toward the end of the half.  The Falcons would answer back and go on a 14-5 run which left Erie taking a one point lead into halftime.  

The second half started much like the first with Lackawanna taking an early lead before Erie would rally to take it back.  The teams would continue to trade advantages throughout the half until the Kats opened up a 74-66 lead with just over five minutes left to play.  But Lackawnna would continue to challenge Erie and earn a lead of their own with just 90 seconds left to play in the game.  The Kats were able to draw some fouls and cause two turnovers in the final seconds to earn the victory.  

Leading the way for the Kats with 20 points was freshman Nathan Severson while Justin Morety had 17 and Saidou Jalloh put up 15.

Sophomore Joshua Denis would lead the way for the Kats on Sunday as they defeated Howard County Community College 79-74.  Morety, Severson and Jalloh also put up double digits in the win. 

The Kats would find themselves trailing throughout the first half.  They were down by 12 points with 2:38 left in the half before they slowly chipped away at the Dragons lead and ended the half down by four, 27-31.

Erie would come out in the second half with a 10-1 run of their own in the first two minutes to take a 37-32 lead.  The Dragons fought back to regain the lead for more than ten minutes while Erie kept clawing away.  The Kats regained with lead with 2:30 left to play.  After two more lead changes, the Kats hit three straight baskets to take a 76-82 advantage with under a minute remaining and then were able to hit enough free throws to seal the win. 

Erie is 5-1 on the season and will host Lakeland Community College on Saturday, November 20th at 3:00 pm.