SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team will close out the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season at home this weekend as the Lakers look to secure home-court advantage for the opening round of the GLIAC playoffs. The Lakers will host the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. and the Michigan Tech Huskies at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26. Both games will be played in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Last Time Out
The Lakers are coming off a weekend road split against the Purdue Northwest Pride and Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers. Lake State won against the Pride on Thursday, Feb. 17 by a final score of 71-63 to extend the team's win streak to six games. The Lakers win streak, which dated back to Jan. 31, was snapped against the Rangers on Saturday, Feb. 19 with a 90-61 loss. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season,, the Lakers have totaled a 16-8 overall record and a 11-7 mark in GLIAC competition.
In Friday's game at Purdue Northwest, the Lakers had a strong all-around team performance in the win. Four players posted double-digit point totals in the victory, led by Kemon Bassett, who had 18 points off the bench. Bassett also secured a team-high 13 rebounds in the game to earn his first double-double of the season. Malek Adams ranked second among his teammates with 13 points in the win while also leading the Lakers in assists with five. Freshman Tyson Edmondson rounded out the team's top three scorers as he netted a team-leading four three-pointers to total 12 points against the Pride. C.J. Robinson, who led the team with 36 minutes on the floor, finished the game with 10 points.
Against the Rangers on Saturday afternoon, Adams led the Lakers with 13 points in the game while Wren followed with 12 points as the other Laker to post a double-digit point total against the Rangers. Wren also led the Lakers in rebounds with five in the game while Robinson ranked first on the team with four assists.
The Lakers
The Lakers are led by Steve Hettinga, the all-time winningest coach in Laker Basketball history, who enters his 15th season in the role. Hettinga reached the milestone of 250 wins at LSSU in the team's 75-72 win over Grand Valley on Feb. 3. Assistant coach Ted Stowe returns for his fifth season in the role on Hettinga's staff while assistant coach Hugh Clarke joins the staff for his first season. Through 24 games this season, the Lakers have averaged 78.0 points per game, which ranks tied for third in the GLIAC, on a 45.9 shooting percentage and 32.4 rebounds per game.
Lake Superior State will be led by a strong senior class which includes returners Kemon Bassett, Malek Adams, C.J. Robinson, David Wren, Justin Fischer and transfer Caden Ebeling, who joins the Lakers after a solid career at Albion College. Hettinga will look to this group's leadership on-and-off the court this season. Bassett, who was recently named to the All-GLIAC North Preseason Team.
For their play during the 2020-21 season, junior forward Kemon Bassett was named First Team All-GLIAC, redshirt senior guard Malek Adams was named Second Team All-GLIAC and junior guard C.J. Robinson was named to the All-GLIAC Defensive Team.
Lake Superior State will also be returning a junior class of Dan Few and Xander Okerlund as well as sophomores Blake Cassidy and Andy Soma.
Hettinga's squad will welcome a large freshman class this season with seven student-athletes joining the Lakers. The freshman class includes three players from Ann Arbor Huron High School (Tyson Edmondson, Kingsley Perkins and Devin Womack) who will look to build on their chemistry and success from their high school careers at the collegiate level. The remaining first-year players include Drew Hess, a 6-2 guard from Oscoda, Mich., Ben Patrick, a 6-2 guard from Oklahoma City, Okla., Kendall Smith, a 6-8 forward from Muskegon, Mich., and Hunter Soper, a 6-6 forward/guard from Lexington, Mich.
Leading the Lakers
Through 24 games of the 2021-22 season, the Lakers have been led offensively by the pair of Adams and Bassett as both rank in the top-10 scorers in the conference. Adams leads the team with 18.8 points per game which is second-best in the GLIAC this season. In addition, Adams ranks eighth in the conference in assists per game this season (3.7) and third in steals per game (1.7). Bassett, who has played in 16 games for the Lakers this season, ranks second on the team, and eighth in the GLIAC with 15.1 points per game. The Detroit, Mich. native also ranks among the top of the conference in both assists per game (3.9) and blocks per game (1.1). He is sixth in assists per game and fifth in blocks per game. Bassett is also tied for the team-lead in rebounds with Justin Fischer as both have averaged 5.1 rebounds per game.
Justin Fischer, who averages 8.6 points per game this season, has totaled a 54.8 shooting percentage which is eighth-best in the GLIAC. Fischer, who is tied for the team-lead in rebounds, also leads his teammates in assists per game (4.3). Fischer ranks fifth in the GLIAC in assists per game. Edmondson tops all conference players in three-point shooting percentage this season with a 48.6 % mark.
The Northern Michigan Wildcats
The Northern Michigan Wildcats have totaled a 14-11 overall record through 25 games this season and hold a 10-8 mark in conference play. NMU enters the final weekend of the regular season riding a five game win streak, dating back to Feb. 5. Earlier this season, the Wildcats fell to the Lakers by a final score of 74-72. The Wildcats have averaged 78.0 points per game this season, which is tied with the Lakers for third-best in the conference, on a 44.5 shooting percentage and 36.7 rebounds per game. Northern Michigan is led by senior guard Max Bjorklund who averages a team-high 14.6 points per game. Bjorklund ranks 10th in the GLIAC in points per game and sits ninth in the conference in three-point percentage (41.2). Graduate-student forward John Kerr (11.9 ppg) and junior guard Justin Brookens (11.5) round out the Wildcats top three scorers this season. Kerr's 7.5 rebounds per game lead the Wildcats and are tied for fifth in the GLIAC this season. The Wildcats are led by Matt Majkrzak, who is in his third season in the role at Northern Michigan.
The Michigan Tech Huskies
The Michigan Tech Huskies head into the final weekend of the regular season holding a 19-5 overall record, which includes a 15-3 record in GLIAC competition. Through 24 games this season, Michigan Tech averages 74.1 points per game on a 48.1 shooting percentage while adding 34.3 rebounds per game. The Huskies posted a 70-64 win over the Lakers in the first meeting between the two conference rivals on Dec. 9 in Houghton, Mich. Michigan Tech, who is set to play Ferris State on Thursday night, enters the weekend riding a nine-game win streak. The Huskies are led by senior guard Owen White, who averages 17.3 points per game this season to rank tied for fourth in the conference. Michigan Tech has also seen solid offensive contributions from freshman guard Adam Hobson (12.4 ppg), junior guard Eric Carl (11.9 ppg) and senior forward Trent Bell (11.7 ppg). Bell's 8.6 rebounds per game is second-best in the GLIAC this year. The Huskies are coached by Josh Buettner, who is in his first season in the role.
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