WILKES-BARRE — It was looking like Susquehanna University’s magical postseason run was about to end.

Wilkes University had an 11-point lead with six minutes remaining and all the momentum in the Landmark Conference men’s basketball final.

But the River Hawks put together a gutsy rally to cap an improbable story and defeat the Colonels, 76-72, to earn the championship Saturday night at the Marts Center’s Henry Gymnasium.

Susquehanna (16-12) needed a tiebreaker just to get into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. It proceeded to post road wins over the University of Scranton and Drew University — teams it lost to twice each during the regular season — to reach the final. Then, it beat Wilkes for the third time this season to capture its first Landmark Conference crown since 2022 and third overall. The River Hawks also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, their 10th appearance. The bracket will be announced Monday.

“Unheard of,” Susquehanna coach Frank Marcinek said. “Everyone’s banged up at this time of year. We’re banged up. But the guys kept digging and digging and found a way. It’s a tribute to their character and toughness.

“We lost to Scranton twice, beat them. We lost to Drew twice, beat them. We beat Wilkes twice and the question was, Could they reverse the tables on us? For a while, it didn’t look good.”

Senior Audric Washington had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Susquehanna (16-12) and earn championship game Most Valuable Player honors. Senior Brandon Lavitt added 15 points and redshirt freshman MIkey Cumbo, a Dallas High School grad, had eight points, including 6 for 6 from the foul line in the final 78 seconds to seal the victory.

“This is amazing. We’re a 6-seed, we’re not supposed to be here at all. It’s surreal,” Cumbo said. “This group of guys, we just stick together through all the ups and downs. We love each other. We just kept on battling.”

Junior Eli Becker led five players in double figures for Wilkes (19-9) with 18 points. Senior Lucas Lesko added 17 points, senior Colin Ackerman had 14 points, senior Jack Argento chipped in 13 points and sophomore Daniel Santaniello finished with 10 points. The Colonels, the No. 4 seed, were seeking their first Landmark title, as well as their first conference crown and NCAA berth since 2001.

Things were looking good for Wilkes with six minutes left. A basket by Lesko off an assist from Becker gave the Colonels a 62-51 lead. Minutes later, Santaniello hit a jumper to make it 66-58 with 4:14 left.

That’s when Susquehanna reeled off the next 14 points. It started with a four-point play by Seamus Rogers. Jackson Van Wagener hit two free throws, Washington scored inside to tie the game and Lavitt had a steal-and-layup to put the River Hawks in front, 68-66, with 2:22 left. Two free throws each by Lavitt and Cumbo capped the run and made it 72-66 with 1:18 left.

“This senior group, we’ve had a lot of experience playing in these types of games,” Lavitt said. “Early in the season, we had a lot of tough games where we were down early. There’s just no panic at all with this group. There’s eight of us seniors, including our two managers, and we’ve kind of been through it all in our four years. Somehow we found a way and figured it out at the end.”

During Susquehanna’s run, Wilkes was 0 for 4 shooting with three turnovers.

“I think we wore down physically. It’s been a long week, both teams had to play the same amount of games,” Wilkes coach Izzi Metz said. “Their big bodies wore us down in the paint. Mentally, we got worn down and had some uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch that I believe cost us.”

Becker hit a foul shot and Argento scored off a drive to stop the run and bring the Colonels within 72-69 with 39.4 seconds left. Cumbo answered with two free throws, but Santaniello hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 74-72 with 25.9 seconds to go.

Cumbo, though, hit two more free throws with 20.4 seconds left to seal the victory.

“Got to hit free throws to win games. Free throws win championships,” Cumbo said. “I just stayed consistent with it, stayed ready and it worked out.”

Lesko’s basket right before the first-half buzzer gave Wilkes a 35-32 lead. The Colonels then scored seven straight points at the start of the second half to extend the advantage to 42-34 with 17:47 left. Susquehanna scored the next four points, but an 8-1 burst gave Wilkes a 50-39 lead with 14:38 left.

Again, the River Hawks crept back, scoring six straight points to get within 50-45. But Wilkes put together a 12-4 run to open their 62-51 lead.

“We got out in transition and scored some easy baskets,” Metz said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold on. The last six, eight minutes, we didn’t get much of that.”

Stevens 68, Misericordia 59: At Hoboken, New Jersey, Misericordia University had a second-half rally fall short to Stevens Institute of Technology in the MAC Freedom Conference championship game.

A 14-4 run to close the first half gave Stevens a 38-22 halftime lead. Misericordia scored the first six points of the second half, but the Ducks were able to push their lead to 51-34 midway through the second half.

However, the Cougars kept battling. They chipped away at the deficit and closed to within 62-56 with 1:23 remaining on a layup by Jack Gallagher. Stevens, though, hit six of eight foul shots the rest of the way to seal the win.

Tommy Scholl had 19 points and eight rebounds for Stevens (18-9), who earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Harmehar Chhabra added 15 points and Anthony Loscalzo contributed 10 points.

Anderson led Misericordia (17-10) with 21 points and 12 rebounds.