The Lakeland men's basketball team played host to the Hocking Hawks in need of a win to keep their conference championship hopes alive. A win would move the Lakers into a tie with the Hawks atop the OCCAC standings while a loss would almost assure a second place finish. For three quarters of the game, the Lakers struggled and looked like they would fall to the Hawks. When things looked bleakest for the Lakers, they would rally back as they have done many times this season, and take an 80-79 victory over the Hawks. Lakeland's record improved to 21-3 and 12-2 in conference play. The first half was one that the Lakers would rather forget. The Hawks took advantage of Lakeland's cold shooting and went into the break with a 41-30 lead.

The second half didn't start much better. The teams would continue to battle and the Hawks would increase their lead to 15 points, 72-57, with 7 minutes to play. The Lakers would then come alive with a relentless effort to climb all the way back into the game. With 6:23 to play, Dondi Harper was fouled and hit both free throws. Lakeland would then put on a high pressure press forcing the Hawks into a 5-second violation. Alex Benson would then hit a big 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 10 points at 72-62. On the Hawks next possession, Chris Tackett would block a shot before Adam Williams scored on a layup to draw the Lakers closer. With the Laker fanatics growing louder, the Hawks would miss a free throw. Jareon Mayo would later get fouled and connect on both free throws to bring the Lakers within 6 at 72-66 with 5 minutes to play. Hocking would then score consecutive baskets, taking advantage of a Laker miss, to grow their lead back to 10 at 76-66.  The Lakers would close out the remaining 4:20 of the game by outscoring the Hawls 14-3. Justin Covington would get it started by feeding Chris Tackett inside for a dunk. Lakeland would again have tremendous defensive pressure and force the Hawks into another 5-second inbound violation. Adam Williams would then get fouled and hit 1-2 feee throws to make the score 76-69. Neither team would score on their next possessions before PJ Daniels stole the ball and was fouled. Daniels connected on both free throws to bring the Lakers within 5 points, 76-71, with 3:31 to play. After a Hawk miss, Alex Benson would feed Daniels for a 3-pointer to make the score 76-74. Lakeland would foul quickly and the Hawks would hit 1-2 free throws to grow their lead back to 3 points at 77-74 with 2:41 to play. Lakeland would be called for a charge on their next possession before fouling the Hawks quickly. The fanatics were at it again as the Hawks missed both free throws. After a Lakeland miss, the Hawks would score a layup for a 5 point, 79-74 lead, with 1:18 to play. On Lakeland's next possession, Jareon Mayo was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Mayo stepped to the line and drained all 3 free throws to bring the Lakers within 2 points, 79-77 with 1:04 to play. Lakeland would again turn up the defense and this time force a 30-second shot clock violation. On Lakeland's next possession, Adam Williams would hit a spinning 6-foot bank shot while being fouled with 9.3 seconds to play. Williams stepped to the line and nailed the free throw to give the Lakers the 80-79 lead. Lakeland would again play strong defense forcoing the Hawks to use precious time to get the ball up the court. The Hawks would take a desperation off-balance 3-pointer that would be off the mark as the Lakers secured the victory. 

The Lakers had a very balanced scoring attack as 11 different players scored and three finished in double digits. Jareon Mayo led the way with 25 points while Adam Williams finished with 12 points on the afternoon. PJ Daniels recorded 10 points while Chris Tackett finished with 6 points for Lakeland. Both Dondi Harper and Alex Benson added 5 points in the Laker win.

T's Thoughts: "Credit to Hocking as they really came out and challenged us. I was pleased that our team never gave up and continued to battle throughout. My main message is: trust the work! Excellent team effort."

Next Up: Lakeland will play host to the Bryant & Stratton Bobcats on Wednesday (2/28) at Laker Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 pm.