The Lakeland men's basketball team played host to the Terra State Titans tonight and came away with a 77-63 victory. With the win, the Lakers record improves to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference. This game had a bit of a slugguish start as both teams committed several turnovers and misfired on shots for almost the first 10 minutes. The Lakers then took control of the half and the game over the final 10 minutes of the period. Jareon Mayo got it started for Lakeland by hitting a layup off an inbounds play to knot the score at 12. The Lakers picked up their defensive pressure and Bishop Thomas stole the ball and coverted a 3-point play with a layup and then a free throw after being fouled. After the Titans scored a basket, PJ Daniels scored on a driving layup to put the Lakers up 17-14. Terra State would then miss a shot and Daniels would hit Ansoumane Oulare with a pass under the basket. Oulare would convert the old-fashioned 3-point play with a layup and a free throw after getting fouled. The Titans would then score on a layup before Jareon Mayo answered with a driving layup of his own to push the Laker lead to 22-16. On the Titans next play, Alex Benson would get a block before Oulare hit a turn-around jumper for a 24-16 lead. After a Titan miss, Alex Benson would score a nifty layup as he cut to the basket. The Titans would climb back to make the score 26-19 when Justin Covington had a steal and fed Benson for another layup and a 28-19 lead. On the next play for the Titans, Brandon Lane would have a block and then hustle the length of the court to get a tip in off of a Lakers missed shot. Lane would pick up another block on the next possession before Dondi Harper hit a layup. Following a Titan miss, Harper would again connect on a turn-around jumper. The Lakers would then collect a turnover and Jareon Mayo would finish out the scoring for the half with a dunk to give the Lakers a 36-22 lead going into the break.
In the second half the Lakers would get started early. Alex Benson started the half by hitting a 3-pointer. After a Terra miss, PJ Daniels was fouled and sank both free throws. After a Titan turnover, Jareon Mayo hit a jump shot for a 43-24 lead. Terra State would miss it's next shot and Mayo would feed Benson in the corner for another 3-pointer. The Titans would then hit a 3-pointer, but Lakeland would answer right back as Daniels fed Benson with an alley-oop. After the Titans connected on free throws, Mayo would get another dunk to push the lead back to 20 at 50-30. Dondi Harper would then get a steal and feed Jareon Mayo for a layup. On the Titan next possession, Benson would get a steal and feed Mayo again for another layup and a 54-30 lead. From there, the Lakers cruised to the victory.
Lakeland finished the game with 9 different players scoring and 3 players in double digits. Alex Benson led the way with 23 points. Jareon Mayo added 15 points while Ansoumane Oulare finished his night with 13 points. PJ Daniels chipped in 7 points while Dondi Harper and Justin Covington each finished with 6 points in the Lakers win.
T's Thoughts: "I was pleased with the way that our team followed the game plan. Our starting five played really well and Dondi Harper stood out with his hard play. Overall, a good team win. We also had a nice crowd which gave us some positive energy - that's always appreciated."
Next Up: the Lakers will travel to Piqua, OH on Saturday (2/3) to play the Edison State Chargers. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
