SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball program (0-1) narrowly fall to the Missouri S&T Miners (1-0) by a final score of 90-89 in overtime on Friday.
Caden Ebeling (Shelby Twp., Mich.) set the tone early for the Lakers after converting an and-one opportunity and a three-point shot for the Lakers' first official six points of the 2022-23 season. A 10-0 run for the Miners would give them a 17-10 advantage, but the Lakers answered with a 9-0 run of their own with multiple made baskets from both Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) and C.J. Robinson (Clarkston, Mich.) to retake the lead. Both teams would then battle on their way to a 25-25 tie. However, the Miners were able to settle in for an 18-5 run to pull ahead late in the first half to take a 50-35 lead into the break.
The Lakers fought back coming out of halftime, opening the second half with a 14-2 run to get back within three points with the help of an impressive effort on the offensive glass by the preseason All-GLIAC First Team selection, Kemon Bassett (Detroit, Mich.).Missouri S&T was able to go back up by seven points, but a David Wren (Ypsilanti, Mich.) layup followed by a three-pointer from Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) had the Lakers back to within two points with the scoreboard reading 55-57. The Miners would continue to nurse their lead, but the Lakers caught lightning on their way to another run of 11-2 to take a 69-65 lead, their first lead since the score was 24-22. The Miners were able to strike back with a 9-0 run of their own to go back up 78-72 going into the under-four media timeout, but the Lakers retook the lead with a 7-0 run that was capped off with an Okerlund three after returning to the floor. The Miners went back up by two, but Okerlund found Ebeling all alone under the basket to tie the game at 81-81 with less than a minute to go, sending the game into overtime.
Both teams would go back and forth throughout the five-minute overtime period, remaining a one-possession game throughout. However, a pair of late free throughs from Missouri S&T would give the Miners a 90-89 lead, and they were able to survive the Lakers' final possession to hold on and claim the victory by the smallest of margins.
Despite the loss, five different Lakers would score double-digits with Ebeling leading the way with 22. Edmondson finished the day with 18 points, and Okerlund was able to score 17 off the bench. Meanwhile, Wren and Robinson each had 13. Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) had a solid outing on the glass, leading his team in rebounding with eight in only 12 minutes of action.
The Lakers will look to bounce back on Saturday, Nov. 12 for their second game of the Greenstay Inn and Suites Tipoff Classic when they take on the host school, Drury, with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.