The Lakeland men's basketball team played host to the Cuyahoga Triceratops in OCCAC action and came away with a thrilling 96-94 victory. With the win, the Lakers improve to 19-3 overall and 11-2 in conference play. This was a game of halves. During the first half, the Triceratops could do no wrong. Tri-C consistently hit 3-pointers the whole first half while also taking advantage of some poor shooting stretches by the Lakers, to build a 51-33 lead going into the break. In the second half, both teams traded baskets early on and the Lakers found themselves on the short end of a 72-51 score with under 9 minutes to play. Lakeland, who has been able to score in bunches all season, went on a tear as they turned this game upside down. It started when Alex Benson was fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws. Missing the second free throw, Jareon Mayo grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the put back while be fouled. Mayo hit the free throw to make the score 74-55. Lakeland picked up their defensive pressure immediately as they put on a relentless press and pressured the Triceratops all over the court. After forcing a turnover, Adam Williams scored on a layup. After a Cuyahoga miss, PJ Daniels drove the lane and made a behind-the-back pass to Justin Covington who converted the basket to make the score 74-59. After anther Tri-C miss, Williams made another driving layup. Tri-C then connected on 2 free throws and a basket after a Laker miss to grow the lead back to 78-61 with 7:07 to play. On Lakeland's next possession, PJ Daniels scored on a an offensive rebound and tip-in. The Lakers then quickly stole the ball and Daniels fed Jareon Mayo for a basket. Lakeland's defense continued to work as they forced another turnover. Justin Covington recorded the steal and the old-fashioned 3-point play as he scored a layup and then connected on the free throw after being fouled. Suddenly the Lakers only trailed by 10, 78-68, with 6:06 to play...and then it got interesting.

After a Lakeland miss and foul, Tri-C would connect on 2-2 free throws to make it 80-68. Justin Covington would answer by hitting a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play. PJ Daniels would then collect a steal and feed Jareon Mayo for a bucket and it was now a 80-73 ballgame. Tri-C would score and connect on a free throw to push the lead back to 10 a 83-73 with 4:47 to play. On Lakeland's next possession, Adam Williams was fouled and connected on both free throws. Justin Covington would then steal the ball and Mayo would hit a 3-pointer to bring the Lakers with 5 points at 83-78. Cuyahoga would miss before Williams was fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws to draw the Lakers closer at 83-79. Cuyahoga would then connect on another 3-pointer to push the lead back to 86-79 with 3:41 to play. Mayo was again fouled and connected on 1-2 free throws. The Lakers defense then forced another Tri-C turnover before Jareon Mayo connected on a deep 3-pointer to draw the Lakers within 3 at 86-83 with 3 minutes to play. Lakeland then fouled and Tri-C connected on both free throws. On Lakeland's next possession, the Lakers took a shot that missed - looking like it was going to bounce away. Alex Benson then came sailing in and tipped the ball at rim level to score the basket while being fouled. Benson then sank the free throw and the Lakers were within two at 88-86. After a Lakeland foul, Tri-C again hit both free throws to grow the lead back to 90-86. Both teams would then foul and connect on 1-2 free throws to make the score 91-87 before Alex Benson would dial up another 3-pointer to bring the Lakers within 1 point, 91-90 with 1:50 to play. Lakeland was then whistled for a foul and a technical on the same play resulting in 4 free throws for Tri-C. They connected on 2-4 to grow their lead to 93-90 with 1:48 to play. On the Lakers next posession, Adam Williams would drive the lane and pull the defenders before dishing back to Justin Covington. Covington would score the basket and convert the three point play after being fouled to tie the score at 93 with 1:22 to play. After a Tri-C miss the Lakers had a basket pulled off the board when they were whistled for the charge. Lakeland would continue to dial up heavy press pressure and were able to force the Triceratops into a 10-second violation. The Lakers would later foul sending Tri-C to the line where they would make 1-2 free throws to gain a 94-93 lead. On Lakeland's next possession, Alex Benson grabbed a critical offensive rebound and scored to give Lakeland a 95-94 lead. Lakeland would then be whistled for another foul. With Tri-C at the line, the Lakeland crowd was going wild. With the boisterous crowd joining in, the Triceratops were unable to connct on either free throw. Justin Covington corralled the defensive rebound and was fouled immediately. Covington connected on 1-2 free throws for the final scoring in the Lakers win.

Eight different Lakers scored this evening in a balanced attack. Alex Benson led the Lakers with 27 points while Justin Covington finished his night with 20 points. Jareon Mayo pitched in with 18 points while Adam Williams collected 9 points in the Lakers win. Ansoumane Oulare recorded 8 points while both Bishop Thomas and Brandon Lane chipped in with 4 points for Lakeland.

T's Thoughts: "Cuyahoga is a good team that's well coached. We really sruggled early and they took advantage. Fortunately we were able to recover as we played good defense in the second half - really good game overall. Our fans really supported us and helped us tonight." 

Next Up: The men's basketball team will play host to the Niagara County Community College Thunderwolves in non-league action on Friday (2/16). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.