The Lakeland men's basketball team played the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats this afternoon on the second day of the St. Clair County Community College Classic. The Lakers were able to bounce back from a difficult loss last night and overwhelm the Bobcats by a score of 90-57. The Lakers record improves to 4-1 with the win. In the first half of this game, the Lakers shooting woes continued from the night before. Lakeland faired better with their field goals shooting 48%; but struggled with just a 17% (1-7) from beyond the arc while also shooting just under 67% from the free throw line. This effort was critical in trailing the Bobcats 36-31 at the half. The bright spot offensively in the first half was the Lakers Chris Tackett who scored 14 points on 6-6 shooting from the field and 2-3 from the line.
The second half featured similar play from the Lakers for about the first 5 minutes until Jaidon Lipscomb hit a jump shot to make the score 48-39 in favor of the Bobcats. After a Bobcat missed shot, Zach Wartley scored on a layup to make the score 48-41. After a Bobcat turnover, Lipscomb scored on a layup to trim the deficit to 5 at 48-43.The Bobcats missed a shot on their next posession and then Bishop Thomas scored an old-fashioned 3-point play hitting a jumpshot and then a free throw after he was fouled to make the score 48-46. After another Bobcat missed shot, Landon Tillman scored on a layup to knot the score at 48. Following a Lakeland steal, Jevon France gave the Lakers the lead at 50-48 by converting a layup. Following another Bobcat missed shot, Brandon Lane extended the lead to 4 by making a layup. The Lakers then had a steal and Lipscomb scored on another layup to make the score 54-48 in favor of the Lakers. Landon Tillman and Jevon France would then both connect on two free throws after being fouled to extend the Laker lead to 10 points at 58-48. From there, the Lakers cruised the rest of the game.
The Lakers shot a blistering 78% (25-32) from the field in the second half while also connecting on 8 of 9 free throws (89%) to key the victory. Landon Tillman finished as the Lakers leading scorer finishing the game with 22 points while adding 8 rebounds. Jaidon Lipscomb recorded 19 points and 8 rebounds to help key the win while Chris Tackett finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Zach Wartley added 13 points and 8 rebounds for the Lakers while Jevon France chipped in 8 points and 4 rebounds.
T'sThoughts: "We had asnother tough first half - we just weren't playing to our ability. In the second half, we were able to make some adjustments and we started to play the way we are capable of playing. I was very proud of the teams second half effort. We have a fairly quick turn around now - so we'll have to work hard to maintain our level of play and effort."
Next Up: On Monday, the Lakers will play host to the Jamestown Jayhawks. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm in Laker Gym.