PORT HURON, Mich. – Lakeland men's basketball trailed by eight at halftime but with the help of John Dawson and his 32 points the Lakers stormed back to beat St. Clair County Community College 84-80 Friday night.

Dawson went 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line to add to his 32 points as the Lakers broke a two-game losing streak to improve to 6-2. St. Clair County suffered its first loss to drop to 6-1.

Lakeland's starting five contributed 74 of the total 84 points in the win as Tyreke Johnson finished with 16 points while Rob Brown added 12 points in the win.

Dawson got started early on with 17 points in the first half after hitting three shots behind the arc but was the only player in double figures in the first 20 minutes.

St. Clair County came out fast as grabbed its biggest lead at 14 points after taking a 26-12 lead with 8:53 left in the half. Lakeland did chip into the lead but still trailed by eight at the half.

Dawson was again solid in the second half with 15 points and got a little help from Johnson with 14 points. It only took the Lakers 1:32 in the second half to erase the deficit and tie the game at 45-45 with 18:28 left.

Lakeland opened the second half on a 19-2 run in the first 4:53 in the second half to claim a 58-47 after a 3-pointer from Johnson. The lead never got higher than 11 for Lakeland and St. Clair County was able to make a run to tie the game up at 77-77 with 3:56 left.

Jonny Bowers hit a layup with 2:01 left for a 79-77 lead and the Lakers would not let go of that lead to come away with the eventual four-point victory.

Lakeland will close the Skippers Holiday Classic with a matchup against Mid Michigan College on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 1 p.m.

For more information about Lakeland athletics, visit www.athletics.lakelandcc.edu.

About Lakeland Community College

Founded in 1967, Lakeland Community College was the first college in Ohio created by a vote of the people. True to our mission, Lakeland provides quality learning opportunities to meet the social and economic needs of the community.

Offering day, evening, weekend and online classes, the college serves more than 10,800 credit and 2,800 noncredit students (2016). For more information about the College, visit www.lakelandcc.edu.