The Lakers men's basketball team opened their home schedule against the NJCAA's #19 ranked St. Clair County Skippers.  The two teams battled throughout much of the first half before Lakeland took control midway through the second half and cruised to the 86-73 victory. Jaidon Lipscomb led the way for the Lakers scoring 41 points. Elhadji Thiam added 15 points while Brandon Lane scored 10 points in the win. Jevon France picked up 7 points while Zach Wartley chipped in 6 points. Landon Tillman finished with 4 points and was able to control much of the Lakers offensive flow from his point guard position. For the first 15 minutes of the game, both teams went back and forth with each other. There were several ties during this part of the half (9-9, 14-14, and 25-25). SC4 then went on a run and extended their lead to 10 points at 39-29 after a Lakeland goaltending call with about 5 minutes to play in the first half. On Lakeland's next posession, Elhadji Thiam scored while dunking on the Skippers. SC4 and Lakeland then traded baskets and the Skippers held a 43-33 lead. On the ensuing play, Jaidon Lipscomb was fouled while in the act of shooting. SC4 was also called for a technical foul for pushing a player after the play. Lipscomb stepped to line and sank all 4 free throws to make the score 43-37 in favor of SC4. Thaim later connected on two free throws while SC4 scored a basket to give SC4 a 45-39 lead into the break.

The Lakers started off strong again and tied the score at 45 on a Jaidon Lipscomb 3-pointer. The Skippers would then go on a mini-run and extend the lead to 55-47. On the Lakers next possession, Elhadji Thiam would score on a close lay-in. Landon Tillman then stole the ball and hit a 6-foot floater. Lipscomb then picked up another Laker steal and went end to end in scoring a layup to make the score 55-53 in favor of the Skippers. After a SC4 basket, Lipscomb hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make the score 57-56 for SC4. After a Skipper miss Jevon France was fouled. France connected on 1-2 free throws to knot the score at 57. After a Skipper miss, Brandon Lane would grab an offensive rebound and score for the Lakers to give them the lead at 59-57. The Skippers would committ a turnover and Landon Tillman converted another floater to extend the lead to 61-57. After a 3-pointer from SC4, Thiam would bump the lead back to 3 poionts with another dunk. Lakeland would force another turnover and Lipscomb would bury a 3 to give the Lakers a 68-62 lead. After a Skipper missd shot, France would score a basket on a SC4 goaltending call. SC4 continued to battle and scored the next 2 baskets to trim the Lakers lead to 70-66. Lakeland's Brandon Lane would score on the next posession on an assist from France. After a SC4 turnover, Lane would score again on a putback to increase the Laker lead to 74-66.  St. Clair would continue to play hard and cut the lead to 74-70 before a Javon France layup was followed by another Lipscomb 3 to seal the victory for the Lakers.   

Players Perspective:

     Jaidon Lipscomb: "They punched us in the mouth early on in the game. Fortunately, we started to make some plays toward the end of the first half which gave us momentum and confidence in the second half. Our team fought hard - it was a nice win. As our coach tells us                                        TTW - trust the work."

T's Thoughts: "This was a tough game. We have some really low numbers right now because of injuries. They really fought hard though and I'm so proud of them. We have another tough challenge coming up next week - we'll have to get back at it to get ready."

Next Up: The Lakers will play host to the Erie Community College Kats on Wednesday (11/9). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.