SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team fell to the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers by a final score of 84-62 in the team's first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game of the season on Thursday, Dec. 2 in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. With the loss, the Lakers overall record sits at 4-1 while the team holds an 0-1 in conference play.
First Half:
The first half was evenly matched between the two GLIAC teams as only two points separated the teams, with the Rangers leading 35-33.
The Lakers held a 5-0 lead over Parkside after the first two minutes of the half as Malek Adams made a jump shot and Xander Okerlund followed with a three pointer. At the 16:49 mark, C.J. Robinson extended the Lakers lead to seven points (8-1) as he also netted a three pointer.
Parkside would respond by going on an 11 point scoring run and would take a 12-8 lead in the game with 13:03 left on the clock.
Just past the halfway point of the half, Adams would score four straight points for the Lakers as the home team sat within three points of the Rangers (20-17). However, the Rangers would build a double-digit lead over the Lakers with 5:20 left to play when Jamir Simpson made a layup to make the score 31-20.
Lake State had a strong close to the first half as the team scored 13 of the final 17 points in the half. Okerlund made a pair of free throws and a layup while freshman Kingsley Perkins made a dunk to pull their team within five points of the Rangers (31-26) with 3:46 left in the half. Adams added a layup while Okerlund netted another three pointer to cut the deficit to four points. Robinson closed out the scoring in the first twenty minutes as he made a layup to make it a 35-33 game heading into halftime.
Second Half:
In the second half, the Rangers offense totaled five points in the opening minute but senior guard Justin Fischer answered with five points of his own to bring his team back within two points. Fischer made a layup and followed with a three-point jump shot in the same minute to make it a 40-38 game with 18:10 left on the clock.
As five minutes passed in the second half, Parkside began a scoring run that would put the game out of reach for the Lakers. The Rangers built a 16 point lead over the Lakers in the next stretch of play as the team scored 13 of the game's next 15 points (60-44).
Okerlund made another three pointer with 11:08 left in the half to make it a 13 point game (60-47) but the Rangers would hold off the Lakers to secure the win. In the final nine minutes of play, Parkside's offense led the team to an 84-62 GLIAC win.
Breaking Down the Game:
Okerlund led the team with 17 points in the game as he went 6-for-11 from the field and scored a team-leading three three-pointers. Adams followed with 12 points in the game and Fischer rounded out the team's top three scorers as he had 10 points against the Rangers.
The Lakers finished the game with a 34.9 shooting percentage, going 22-for-63 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Rangers went 29-for-55 in the game to total a 52.7 shooting percentage. The Rangers outrebounded the Lakers, 40-26 in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers cap off the first week of conference play with a Saturday afternoon game against the Purdue Northwest Pride on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 3:00 p.m. at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
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