The Lakeland men's basketball team played host to the Cuyahoga Triceratops tonight in OCCAC action and ran away with a convincing 96-69 victory. With the win, the Lakers record improved to 15-5 overall and 9-1 in the OCCAC. In the 1st half, the score was tight early. With the Lakers trailing, 16-15, Chauncey Brashers made a driving layup to give the Lakers a lead they would never relinquish. Following a Tri-C miss, Isaiah McAdams scored on a short jumper. Tri-C would miss again before Lakeland would exercise great ball rotation to set McAdams up for a 3-pointer. Cuyahoga would then score a 3-pointer before Juwan Turner answered with a 3-pointer for a 25-19 Laker lead. Micah Blackmon would score the next 4 Laker points on free throws to keep Lakeland in the lead at 29-23 with 5:48 to play in the half. On Cuyahoga's next possession, Tri-C would miss and foul Amarion Glenn on the rebounding effort. Glenn connected on both free throws to put the Lakers up 31-23. Tri-C would then go on a little run to cut the score to 33-29 before McAdams drove the lane and fed Marlon Landingham in the corner. Landingham swiftly nailed the 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 36-29. After Tri-C made a pair of free hrows, Alikai Creque drove the lane and kicked to Jadallah Suleiman who hit a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 39-31. Lakeland then forced a quick turnover and Creque grabbed an offensive rebound and scored. The Lakers forced another turnover before Suleiman hit a floating 6-footer in the lane to put the Lakers up 12, 43-31. The teams would then trade free throws before Suleiman scored consecutive layups to close out the Lakers scoring in the half. Lakeland led 49-35 going into the break.
In the 2nd half, Lakeland took the game over quickly. Marlon Landingham scored a pair of layups around a Tri-C basket. Following a Tri-C miss, Landingham would convert a 3-point play as he scored a layup and then hit the free throw after being fouled for a 56-37 Laker lead. The teams would trade baskets before Jadallah Suleiman stole the ball. Juwan Turner would finish the play as he grabbed an offensive rebound and score to put the Lakers up 21, 60-39. Nathan Tadiello also had a strong stretch of play in the 2nd half as he hit a free throw, scored a pair of baskets with aggressive board play, and then drained a 3-pointer in the corner to help close out the game.
Lakeland was led by Marlon Landingham (30 points) and Isaiah McAdams (19 points). Jadallah Suleiman had another strong outing while scoring 15 points and both Alikai Creque and Nathan Tadiello finished their nights with 8 points each. Micah Blackmon added 7 points (7-8 from the line) while Juwan Turner recorded 5 points. Amarion Glenn (4 points) and Chauncey Brashers (3 points) also played well in the Lakers win.
Coach T's Talk: "I was generally pleased with our effort and play tonight. We put in a good defensive effort and played unselfishly in the offensive end. We have to put this behind us quickly as we have a tough challenge coming up this Saturday."
Next Up: On Saturday (2/7), the Lakers will travel to Piqua, OH to face the Edison State Chargers in OCCAC action. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:00 am.
