The NJCAA's 8th ranked Lakeland Lakers played host to the Erie Community College Kats tonight in Laker Gym and came away with an 86-77 victory. With the win, the Lakers improved to 3-0 on the season. For the first time this season, the Lakers got off to a slow start and trailed by as many as 7 points early in the first half. Despite the slow start, the Lakers were able to right the ship and went into the half leading 44-27. The Lakers used strong drives to the basket mixed in with timely outside shooting to key the offense while Lakeland's Chris Tackett and Brandon Lane partnered to dominate the paint defensively. In the second half, the Kats would continue to battle, but Lakeland would answer every time. With 16 minutes to play, the Kats cut the lead to 10 at 55-45. Bishop Thomas followed by connecting on 1of 2 free throws. In the Kats next possession, Tackett blocked a shot and fed Jaidon Lipscomb for an easy layup to put the lead back to 13 points. With 6:49 to play the Kats cut the lead to 6 after hitting 2 free throws. Lakeland responded by coming down the court and Dondi Harper connecting on a 3-pointer to extend the lead again. With 4 minutes to play, the Kats cut the Lakers lead to 9 again at 80-71. After a Laker missed shot, Harper blocked a shot and fed Brandon Lane for a layup to push the lead bck to 11 points. Erie would cut the lead to 8 again at 82-74 with 1:46 to play. At this point of the game, the Lakers were trying to use as much of the shot clock as possible. During this posession, Jaidon Lipscomb drove to the bucket and was fouled just before the shot clock expired. Lipscomb sank both free throws to put the Lakers back up by 10 points. From there, Lakeland traded possessions with the Kats and closed out the win.
Jaidon Lipscomb led the Lakers with 31 points. Dondi Harper and Zach Wartley each finished with 13 points while Landon Tillman added 11 points. Brandon Lane chipped in 8 points while Bishop Thomas finished with 6 points for the Lakers.
Player's Perspective:
Chris Tackett: "We could have executed our plays better. We really didn't execute well in this game, but it did help give us a bigger picture of what we need to work on." When asked about the inside presence during the game, Tackett commented,"Before the game, the coaches emphasized that Brandon and I would really have to focus on boxing out. They said we'd have a big impact on the game if we did this." They did!
T's Thoughts: "It wasn't our best performance of the year. We got off to a slow start, but were able to battle back. We weren't as efficient as we need to be around the basket offensively - we definitely have some things to work on and cleanup. We have a little over a week off now which is good as we've been playing short-handed - which is a credit to our players. We are looking forward to getting healthier though and I'm excited about the possibilities that will come with that."
Next Up: The Lakers will travel to St. Clair County Community College next Friday (11/18) to face the Skippers in a rematch of their November 4th game. The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 pm. On Saturday (11/19), the Lakers will have a quick turnaround as they will play Kalamazoo Valley in a Region 12 game at St. Clair. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.
