SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team dropped a close game to the Michigan Tech Huskies by a final score of 70-64 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game on Thursday, Dec. 9 in the SDC Gymnasium in Houghton, Mich. With the loss, the Lakers overall record sits at 6-2 and 1-2 in GLIAC competition.
In the first half, the Lakers started strong as the visiting team opened the game with seven straight points to hold a 7-0 lead. Justin Fischer made a three-point jump shot after he made a defensive rebound to keep the Huskies off the board at the 17:51 mark. Xander Okerlund made a field goal at the 16:33 mark of the first half to give the Lakers a 9-2 lead.
With 13:20 left on the clock in the first half, the Huskies pulled within a point of the Lakers (9-8) but back-to-back field goals by C.J. Robinson and David Wren for the Lakers regained a five point lead (13-8). Just past the halfway mark of the opening twenty minutes, Michigan Tech tied the game at 15 when Owen White made a three pointer.
The Huskies would take the lead for the first time in the game with 8:33 left on the clock in the half. The two U.P. rivals would go on a run of three-pointers as the Huskies netted consecutive threes from Eric Carl and Adam Hobson to pull ahead by six points (23-17). But, Lake State freshman Hunter Soper would answer with his own jumper from three to bring the Lakers back within three points (23-20) with 6:03 to play in the half.
After freshman Kingsley Perkins made a dunk with just over five minutes to play in the half, the Lakers regained the lead as the team made four straight free throws. Okerlund and Adams both went two-for-two from the free throw line as the Lakers led by three points (26-23) late in the half.
The Huskies scored nine of the final 11 points in the first half as the home team held a 32-28 lead following the first half of the conference matchup.
The second half opened with Robinson scoring the first two points as the senior guard made a pair of free throws in the opening minute to bring the Lakers within two points of evening the game (32-30). But, the Huskies would not let the Lakers come any closer to tying the game as the home squad scored 10 of the game's next 12 points. After five minutes of play in the second half, the Huskies extended their lead over the Lakers to double-digits (42-32).
The Lakers three-point shooting helped the team cut the deficit to seven points in the next stretch of play as Robinson added two baskets from beyond the arc while Okerlund also added a jumper from three to make it a 52-45 game with 6:58 left in regulation.
With 2:16 minutes left in the game, Michigan Tech had regained the double-digit lead with a 10-point advantage (64-52) over the Lakers. But, the Lakers would show no quit in the final minutes of play as Fischer, Adams and Wren each went 2-for-2 on free throws to pull within six points (64-58) with 1:36 left on the clock.
With 1:01 left in the game, freshman Tyson Edmondson hit a huge three pointer to bring the Lakers within four points in the late stages of the game (65-61). Adams followed with another three pointer half a minute later to cut the Huskies lead to just three points (67-64). The Lakers would fight to tie the game until the final buzzer but the Huskies would hold on for a 70-74 win.
Breaking Down the Game:
Robinson finished the game with a team-high 16 points in the game, as he went 6-for-11 from the field. The senior guard added two three pointers against the Huskies while also recording two assists and three rebounds. Adams ranked second among his teammates with 15 points while leading the Lakers in assists with three. Fischer rounded out the top three scorers in the game for the Lakers as he posted 10 points in the game while tying Adams for the team-lead in assists (3). Perkins finished the game with a team-high seven rebounds.
The Lakers finished the game with a 38.6 shooting percentage, going 22-for-57 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Huskies went 27-for-57 in the game to total a 47.4 shooting percentage. The Huskies outrebounded the Lakers, 36-31, in the game.
Up Next
The Lakers will cap off the conference weekend of road games on Saturday afternoon against Northern Michigan at 3:15 p.m. in the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.
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