SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team posted a 97-86 win over the Davenport University Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 5 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. With the win, the Lakers overall record improves to 13-7 and 8-6 in conference play.
First Half:
At the close of the first half, the Lakers led 43-29 over the Panthers.
Malek Adams and Tyson Edmondson combined for consecutive three pointers for the Lakers in the first minute of the game as the Lakers led 6-2 early. Freshman Kingsley Perkins made a layup as the Lakers extended their lead to six points in the first two minutes of play (8-2).
As the half played on, David Wren made four straight free throws for the Lakers as the home squad led by eight points through five minutes of play (12-4). Xander Okerlund made a three-pointer for Lake State to post his first points of the matchup.
With over 10 minutes played, C.J. Robinson netted four straight points for his team as the Lakers held onto an eight-point lead (22-14) over Davenport. Lake State's lead would reach double-digits for the first time in the game with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Lakers would begin a 10 point scoring run, which included four points from Adams and Robinson. With 5:42 left in the half, the Lakers led by 16 points (34-18).
With 3:04 left on the clock, the two conference opponents traded three pointers. Jarrin Randall made a basket from beyond the arc for the Panthers but Adams answered with a three for the Lakers (41-27). Bassett made a layup to close out the first half's scoring to give the Lakers a 14-point lead heading into the second half.
Second Half:
The Lakers would hold onto their lead through the opening minutes of the second half. After a pair of layups by Perkins and a three pointer by Adams, the Lakers maintained a 14-point lead (52-38) through three minutes of the half.
With 13:25 left in the game, Robinson made his second three-pointer of the game to extend the Lakers lead to 17 points (61-44). By the time 10 minutes of play passed, the Lakers held a 16 point lead (72-56) over the Panthers.
The visitors would chip away at the Lakers lead and came back within single digits (74-65) with 7:08 left on the clock when Chris Rollins made a three pointer. The Lakers would quickly regain the double-digit lead as Adams netted seven points in less than a minute of play. Edmondson, the GLIAC's top three point shooter this season, put the Lakers up by 14 points (84-70) with his second three of the game with 4:10 left on the clock.
In the closing minutes of the game, the Lakers held off the Panthers to clinch the conference victory by a final score of 97-86.
Breaking Down the Win: Adams finished the game with 32 points in the win as the senior went 9-for-17 from the field, which included a team-leading five three pointers. Adams also mde nine of the 10 free throw attempts he took in the game. C.J. Robinson posted a single-game career-high 19 points in the win as he went 5-for-8 from the field for the Lakers and scored on seven of his nine free throw attempts. Kingsley Perkins and Justin Fischer rounded out the team's top three scorers as each posted 10 points in the win.
Kemon Bassett led the team with nine rebounds and also led his teammates in assists with six.
The Lakers finished the game with a 52.5 shooting percentage, going 31-for-59 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Panthers went 31-for-59 in the game to total a 52.5 shooting percentage. Lake Superior State outrebounded Davenport, 33-27, in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers will host their conference rival, the Ferris State Bulldogs, on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The Lakers will then head to Midland, Mich. to take on the Northwood Timberwolves on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 3:00 p.m.
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