The Lakeland men's basketball team played host to the Eagles of Clark State today in an OCCAC matchup. The Lakers were coming off of their first league loss of the season on Wednesday and wasted little time in putting this game out of reach. The final score favored the Lakers at 97-53. With the win, Lakeland improves to 17-4 overall and 10-1 in OCCAC play. Lakeland trailed early by a score of 5-4 when Landon Tillman hit a 12' jumper to give the Lakers a lead they would not relinquish. The two teams would battle for the next 6 minutes. With Lakeland holding a 16-14 lead, they would take-off. The Lakers would go up 18-14 after Jaidon Lipscomb grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a put back. After a Clark State miss, Lipscomb would get fouled and connect on both free throws for a 20-14 lead with 9:16 to play in the half. The Lakers would force the Eagles into another difficult miss and Tillman would feed Lipscomb for a layup. Lakeland then switched to a full court press and Tillman would get the steal and layup for 24-14 Laker lead. After an Eagle 3-pointer, Lipscomb sank an 8' baseline shot.  On the next possession, the Lakers would block a shot and then Elhadji Thiam would finish with a dunk and 28-17 Laker lead. After an Eagles miss, Jaden Wood would make a nice pass to Thiam who scored on a layup. Thiam was also fouled and sank the free throw for a 35-17 Laker lead.  The Lakers would force another difficult miss by the Eagles and Thiam would sink a 5' jumper on an assist from Lipscomb.  Thiam would draw a charge on the agles next possession and then Dondi Harper II would nail a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 40-17 advantage. After a Clark turnover, Thiam would again make an old-fashioned 3-point play with a layup and a free throw.  On the Eagles next possession, Harper would steal the ball and feed Lipscomb for a layup. After a Clark State shot clock violation, Landon Tillman would score on a driving layup to give the Lakers a commanding 47-17 lead going into the break.

If the Eagles were going to make a run, they would have to start early in the half.  Clark State scored the first bucket of the half and the Lakers quickly answered on a layup by Brandon Lane from Elhadji Thiam.  The teams would trade baskets until the score was 60-29. Zach Wartley would then drain a 3-pointer from the corner and the game was over from there as Lakeland took total control and coasted to the final victory.

Lakeland had five different players score in double figures. Elhadji Thiam led the way with 36 points. Landon Tillman scored 17 points while Jaidon Lipscomb added 14 points for the Lakers. Brandon Lane and Jaden Woods each scored 12 points in the win. Zach Wartley also scored 7 points for the Lakers.    

T's Thoughts: "We did a nice job following the game plan. We had a solid effort on defense and we played pretty well in the paint. I was pleased with our effort in bouncing back, we need to continue to get healthy. This was a good team effort and everyone contributed."'

Next Up: The Lakers play the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats on Wednesday night in Laker Gym. Wednesday will be a single game (men only) and the game time has been adjusted to 5:30 pm.