The Lakeland men's basketball team closed out it's fall slate of home games by hosting the Erie Community College Kats in non-league action tonight. In a battle of different styles of play, the Lakers would take the game in overtime by a score of 65-58 to sweep the season series. This game was a series of runs as the Lakers would continously build leads before the Kats would claw their way back into the game with 3-pointers. The Lakers started strong as Micah Blackmon scored 5 points early to give the Lakers a 9-3 lead 5 minutes into the game. Erie answered with a 3-pointer before the teams traded baskets over the next several minutes. With the Lakers leading 19-17, Erie would hit a three to take their first lead of the game at 20-19. Maxwell Bollin would then get fouled and make 1-2 free throws to tie the score at 20. Both teams would then miss shots before Nathan Tadiello hit a 4-foot turnaround jumper to put the Lakers back up 22-20. Again both teams would miss before Isaiah McAdams was fouled. McAdams connected on both free throws to put the Lakers up 24-20.  Both teams would miss shots again before Micah Blackmon was fouled. Blackmon hit both free throws to extend the Lakers lead to 26-22. Erie would turn the ball over and Blackmon would score on a driving layup. Jadallah Suleiman was later fouled and he sank both free throws to send he Lakers into the break with a 30-22 lead. 

Early in the 2nd half, the Lakers would extend their lead to 38-25 following an Isaiah McAdams layup and free throw. After a Kat miss, Amarion Glenn scored a layup for a 40-25 advantage. The Lakers then hit a rough patch over the next few minutes. Lakeland combined missed shots with turnovers while Erie got hot from the arc as the Kats came within 1 point, 47-46, with about 7 minutes to play. The Lakers Juwan Turner answered as he connected on a 3-pointer. Following a Kat miss, Jadallah Suleiman drove the length of he floor and scored a layup to put the Lakers up 52-46. After a Kat three, Micah Blackmon assisted on a Marlon Landingham 3-pointer. The Lakers would then miss a shot and foul on consecutive possessions allowing the Kats to come back and knot the score at 55 with 1:30 to play. Lakeland would then miss a pair of free throws before both teams missed shots. With under 5 seconds remaining, the Lakers would still have 2 more chances. On a driving layup, the shot didn't fall. Lakeland grabbed the offensive rebound though and muscled up one last shot as time expired. Unfortunately, the ball rimmed out and sent the teams into overtime.

Overtime didn't start well for the Lakers as they dove for a ball off the tip. While gaining control, they touched out of bounds to give the Kats the first possession. Erie would hit a 3-pointer for what would turn out to be their only points of OT as they took a 58-55 lead. Following an Erie turnover, Isaiah McAdams was fouled on a drive. McAdams scored both free throws to bring the Lakers within 1 point at 58-57. After ECC missed a pair of free throws, Jadallah Suleiman was fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws to tie the score at 58. Following a Kat miss, Suleiman would drive the lane hard before dishing a pass to Nathan Tadiello who scored the layup and put the Lakers up 60-58 with 2:30 to play. Erie would then get fouled and commit a lane violation on the front end of a one and one. Marlon Landingham was then fouled and he made 1-2 free throws. After an Erie miss, Suleiman was fouled and he sank both free throws to put the Lakers up 63-58 with 1:36 to play. From there, the Lakers were able to salt the game away as they earned the win.

Lakeland had 3 players finish in double digits while having 9 different players score overall. Jadallah Suleiman was the games high scorer with 20 points. Isaiah McAdams finished his evening wih 13 points while Micah Blackmon added 10 points for the Lakers. Marlon Landingham and Amarion Glenn each scored 5 points while both Alikai Creque and Nathan Tadiello recorded 4 points. Juwan Turner added 3 points while Maxwell Bollin chipped in a free throw in the Lakers win.

Coach T's Talk: "Credit Erie as they were very aggressive on the boards. Their efforts gave them many second chance opportunities - created challenges for us all night. I'm proud that we continued to battle though and found another way to win. We certainly had chances to do more - we have some areas to work on. We'll look to finish the semester strong on Thursday."

Next Up: The Lakers will travel to the CC of Allegheny County on Thursday (12/18) to face the Vikings in non-league action. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.