The NJCAA's 17th ranked Lakeland men's basketball played host to the Niagara County Thunderwolves tonight in non-league action. The Lakers improved their record to 20-3 as they downed Niagara County (NC) by a final score of 75-70. This was a different game to watch for the Lakers. They led nearly the entire game, they never seemed like they were in danger of losing, yet it came down to the final stretch and took some strong defensive plays to close it out. In the first half, with the Lakers leading 8-7, Ansoumane Oulare scored on a nifty spin move under the basket to make the score 10-7. After a NC miss, PJ Daniels would get fouled and hit 1-2 free throws. After NC scored, Jareon Mayo would answer on a driving layup. After misfires by both squads, Mayo would hit Brandon Lane under the basket for a layup and a 15-9 Laker lead. The teams would then trade baskets for most of the rest of the half and the Lakers would go into the break with a 37-32 advantage.
The second half was a tightly played match. NC would take advantage of Lakeland missed shots early to tie the score at 37 a minute into the half. After another Laker miss, NC hit a 3-pointer to take a 40-37 lead. Justin Covington answered as he scored on a drive finishing with a 2-foot floater. After a NC miss, Dondi Harper found Brandon Lane inside with a nice pass. Lane scored the layup to give the Lakers the lead back at 41-40. NC would then score consecutive baskets after a Laker turnover to retake a 44-41 lead. On Lakeland's next possession, Nate Houston made a great pass to Lane who completed an old-fashioned 3-point play as he scored the layup and then hit a free throw after being fouled to knot the score at 44. After a NC miss, Ansoumane Oulare would score on a low post spin move. NC would answer to tie the score and then Lane scored again after collecting an offensive rebound. Following a NC miss, Alex Benson fed Jareon Mayo in the corner for a 3-pointer and a 51-46 Laker lead. NC would then score and the Lakers would answer with another 3-pointer as Justin Covington fed Mayo again. NC would score consecutive buckets again after a Laker miss to make the score 54-50 in favor of the Lakers. On the next play, Jareon Mayo returned the favor as he fed Justin Covington in the corner for a 3-pointer. Later after a Covington steal, Adam Williams would feed Covington on an inbounds basket to build the Lakers a 59-50 lead wth just over 9 minutes to play. Lakeland would then miss and foul on its next couple of possessions and NC closed the gap to 59-55. Alex Benson was then fouled and he hit both free throws to push the lead back to 61-55. After an NC miss, Brandon Lane was fouled and hit both free throws. After a NC free throw, Adam Williams made a long pass to Brandon Lane who quickly fed Alex Benson for a layup and a 65-56 lead. NC would then score 3 consecutive baskets after a Lakeland miss and turnover to cut the Laker lead to 65-63. Following another Laker turnover, NC hit a 3-pointer to take the lead at 66-65 with 4:25 to play. The Lakers quickly responded as Brandon Lane scored a layup and then connected on the free throw after being fouled to give the Lakers the lead back at 68-66. The Laker home crowd then got excited and led the team cheers. With the 6th man support, the Lakers defense forced a turnover. Dondi Harper was fouled and sank both free throws to push the Laker lead back to 4 at 70-66 with 2:46 to play. After a NC bucket, the Lakers were called for consecutive illegal screens and NC shrank the deficit to 2 points, 72-70 with 1 minute to play. Lakeland again played strong defense with their fan support and forced a bad shot miss. Adam Williams grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Williams hit 1-2 free throws to put the Lakers up 73-70. On NC's next possession, the Lakers continued their strong defense. Lakeland was able to corral the rebound and hit a releasing Alex Benson for a thunderous dunk to close out the Laker win.
The Lakers had a very balanced scoring attack tonight as 10 different players scored. Jareon Mayo led the way with 22 points while Brandon Lane finished his night with 16 points. Justin Covington was the next high scorer with 7 points while both Dondi Harper and Ansoumane Oulare finished with 6 points. Nate Houston and Bishop Thomas each scored 5 points in the Lakers win.
T's Thoughts: "Credit Niagara as they really came out hard and never quite. We were forunate in that we were able to have several players step up at different points in the game. Brandon Lane really played big tonight which was great to see; really though, everyone contributed at different points - good team win. We really love and appreciated the crowd again tonight. They really help give us energy and are definitely a great 6th man. We've had a lot of long trips lately and played a lot of basketball. It'll be good to get a little breather. Next weekend will be a tough one as Hocking is another difficult challenge - we'll get back at it next week and hopefully come out ready to go."
Next Up: The Lakers will finally get a little break as they won't play their next game until next Saturday (2/24) against the Hocking Hawks. The game is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm.
