Opening Tip

 Lake Superior State men's basketball continues Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this weekend with a road game at Findlay at 3 p.m. ET, Saturday. 

The Lakers (3-2, 1-1 GLIAC) enter the weekend fresh off their first two GLIAC matchups last week, in which they fell to Ashland on Thursday before picking up their first league win on Saturday against Tiffin.

The last meeting between the teams came last season with the Oilers making the trip up to Sault Ste. Marie for the only meeting between the schools in 2015-16. The Lakers picked up a 77-54 victory on their home court on the strength of Devin Daly's 25 points and 12 rebounds performance.

Laker Notes

• Junior guard Akaemji Williams continues to lead the GLIAC in overall scoring with 24.4 points per game after averaging 21 points, 10.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in last weekend's set of home games.  
• Nationally, Williams ranks eighth in points per game and leads the country with 10.0 assists and 4.60 steals per game. Despite his listing of 5-8, the Pontiac native also ranks tied for 36th in GLIAC rebounding with 4.4 rebounds per game. 
• Williams needs just 20 points to enter the list of LSSU players to reach the career 1,000 point plateau. The 2016 All-GLIAC First Team member is also sitting at 349 career assists. 
• Also in the top-five for GLIAC points per game is sophomore guard Carson Manger with 18.0 points per contest to rank fifth. 
• Manger, a native of New Bremen, Ohio, also leads the nation's sharpshooters with a 64.3 shooting percentage from behind the arc. 
• As a team, LSSU ranks second in the GLIAC with a 50.3 field-goal percentage and the team's outside shooters lead the league with a 41.8 shooting percentage from behind three.  
• Junior center Michael Nicholson has provided the Lakers with strong play inside,  leading all GLIAC players with a 73.5 field goal percentage on the season. Nicholson is turning in 12.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
• The Lakers' offense has been the GLIAC's most potent thus far, averaging 94.4 points per game, ranking eighth nationally. Defensively, however, LSSU ranks last in the league allowing 89.8 points per game.
• A couple of positives in the LSSU defense this season has been a league-leading 8.4 steals per game and has forced their opponents into a second-best mark of 16.4 turnovers per game.

This Week's Matchup

Findlay Oilers (5-2, 2-1 GLIAC)

The Oilers enter the matchup fresh off a 91-73 victory over Northwood on Thursday (Dec. 8). Junior guard Martyce Kimbrough led Findlay to victory with 28 points, 20 of which came during the first ten minutes.

The Oilers are led by junior forward Taren Sullivan with 17.7 points per game and Kimbrough with 17.6 points per game. Sullivan is also tied for the team-lead in rebounds with sophomore Alex White. Both players average 6.1 boards per game.

Findlay's offense has produced 80.3 points per game this season to rank fourth among GLIAC teams. Defensively the Oilers are limiting opponets to 69.9 points per game to rank seventh in the GLIAC.

Last Week (Ashland, 95-87, L | Tiffin, 102-93, W)

Ashland

Cold shooting in the second half doomed the Lakers in their GLIAC home opener last Thursday night against Ashland.

Williams led all scorers with 30 points and totaled a game-high eight assists. Williams has dished out at least eight assists in all five of the Lakers' games and has totaled 30 points three times.

Tiffin

Manger netted a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers and pace the Lakers to a 102-93 victory over Tiffin on Saturday. Manger hit 11-of-14 shots from the field, including an impressive 7-for-8 from behind the arc.

The Lakers (3-2, 1-1 GLIAC) raced out to a 55-30 lead at halftime after knocking down 11-of-17 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes and holding Tiffin to a 1-14 mark from deep. The Dragons (3-5, 0-2 GLIAC) also committed 12 of their 20 total turnovers during the first frame.
In the second half Tiffin brought the game closer with steady shooting and rebounding on their missed opportunities. In fact, the Dragons compiled 13 offensive rebounds in the second half and scored 20 second-chance points.

A Look Ahead

Following the final road game of the first half of the season Saturday against the Oilers, the Lakers return home for a pair of GLIAC games next week.LSSU opens with Lake Erie at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday evening before hosting Walsh at 3 p.m. on Saturday.The Lakers cap 2016 hosting international cross-river rivals Algoma (CIS) on Monday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. ET.