A little over a week ago, the Lakeland men's basketball team was ranked 2nd in the country and were undefeated. They traveled down to Hocking College and just had one of those nights where little went right. With that, they lost their undefeated regular season and fell to 9th in the polls. Tonight, they played host to that same Hocking team (currently ranked 10th), and repaid the favor as they beat the Hawks handidly, 94-63. With the win, the Lakers improve to 18-1 (8-1). Both teams are now tied for first in the OCCAC. If they remain tied at the end of the season, a coin flip would determine seeding. The Lakers got off to a strong start making a 10-0 run to begin the game. From there, it was already over as they never looked back. Lakeland held a 49-34 lead at the break before finishing with the 31 point victory. Defensiverly, the Lakers were led by Noah Berry as he effected many Hawk's shots and battled on the boards all night. Blake Bluitt, Marcos Vazquez, JR Lumsden, and Ansy Oulare also played impactful minutes on the defensive front. Offensively, the Lakers had 5 players score in double figures. Kyle Jackson led the way with 22 points while Jaidon Lipscomb finished with 17 points. Chaze Harris continued his strong play with 15 points while Noah Berry added 13 points. Landon Tillman finished with 12 points on the night.
Hunter's Highlights: "We had a strong resilient effort tonight. I was pleased as the team bought into the game plan pretty well. We were able to jump out early and then were able to sustain control throughout. It was a nice overall team effort where everyone contributed. We have to regroup quickly though as we have another big game Wednesday."
Next Up: The Lakers will play host to the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats on Wednesday evening. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
