The Lakeland men's basketball team jumped out early and coasted to a 117-81 victory over the Lorain County Commodores. With the victory, Lakeland improves it's record to 12-5 and 4-0 in conference play.  Lakeland came out strong defensively and took advantage of their size inside and overall athleticism. The Lakers had 6 players score in double figures. Chris Richards and Jordan Burge each had 19 points while Jonny Bowers and Tyreke Johnson each had 16 points. Keith Germain added 12 points and Tyshaun Howard added 10 points. It was a balanced effort all night as 10 players scored at least 4 points.

The story of the night belongs to Head Coach, Terry Bowe though. In Coach Bowe's 17th season, he achieved 300 victories.  He has by far the most victories of any men's basketball coach at Lakeland. Legendary Coach Will Schuster is next at just over 200 career victories at Lakeland. This team has reflected Coach Bowe in the early goings - they always battle, work hard, are resilient, and have great character. These are traits Coach Bowe exudes and looks for in his players. Tonight we applaud the team and Head Coach, Terry Bowe.  

Players Perspectives

Jonny Bowers: "We came out and played hard. The bench and starting line-up all played 40 minutes. A lot of guys played well off the bench - they played big time. We played great team defense." On having no game this weekend, "I plan to take the weekend to rest, heal, and have some good recovery time."

Chris Richardson: "We started out real strong with some good defensive intensity. Tht carried us throughout the rest of the game." On having the weekend with no games, "I plan to stay home, rest, recovery, and ice....oh - and study too!"

Allen Sims: "I feel like we owed this one to ourselves, get our dignity back a bit. We played hard." On having the weekend off with no games,"I plan to be in the gym. That's how I like to spend my free time. That's my happy place."

Bowe Bytes: "I thought we played well defensively and did what we are capable of doing. We did have a few minor lapses, but we still worked hard - I was not disappointed with our effort." On 300 wins, "There are a lot of great people involved with this - assistant coaches, administration, and players. Honestly, I don't know really know any other place, butI know I would not want to do this anywhere else." On the upcoming schedule, "next week is rivalry week. Cuyahoga on Wednesday and then a tough Columbus State on Saturday. It's going to be a tough and challengin week."

Next up: Lakeland is off this saturday before hosting Cuyahoga C on Wednesday, 1/22, at 7:30 pm. Admission is free. The Lakers will then travel to Columbus on Saturday to take on the Cougars in a 3:00 pm tip.