The Lake Superior State men’s basketball team split the weekend in Marquette, Michigan to the Northern Michigan Wildcats by a final scores of 70-60 win of Saturday, January 30th and a 91-70 loss on Sunday, January 31 in the PEIF Gymnasium in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) series this weekend.
Game Two (Sunday, January 31)
Following the first twenty minutes of play, the Lakers trailed the Wildcats, 56-39.
The Wildcats grabbed an early 5-0 lead over the Lakers but Malek Adams would respond with a jump shot to get the Lakers on the board in the first minute of play. Adams would make his first three pointer of the game a few minutes later to bring the Lakers within a pair of points of the Wildcats (9-7).
Northern Michigan would take over the game in the next stretch of action as the Wildcats would go on to score 13 of the next 15 points to take a 22-9 lead over the Lakers.
Kemon Bassett, who led the Lakers with 14 points in the first half, made a pair of layups right around the halfway point of the opening twenty minutes of play. With 7:17 left in the first half, Adams scored his second shot from behind the arc to bring the Lakers back within single digits of the Wildcats (34-26).
Bassett would make three straight jump shots for the Lakers in the next few minutes of play, with the final basket coming off of a steal.
In the final five minutes of the half, both teams traded points but the Lakers were unable to erase the deficit, and the first twenty minutes of play ended with LSSU trailing by 17 points.
The Lakers were not able to overcome the deficit in the second half as the Wildcat defense held off Lake Superior’s offense from finding a way back into the game. In the second half, the Lakers scored 31 points, including 11 points by Bassett and a three pointer by freshman Blake Cassidy late in the game.
The two Upper Peninsula rivals would finish the game with Northern Michigan securing the win by a final score of 91-70.
Breaking Down the Game
Despite the loss, Bassett scored a season-high 25 points in the game for the Lakers as he went 12-for-20 in the game. The junior forward added five rebounds and two assists for the Lakers. Adams and David Wren joined Bassett with double-digit point totals in the game. Adams finished the game with 15 points, including a team best three three-pointers in the game. Wren totaled 12 points in the game as well as a team-best six rebounds.
The Lakers finished the game with a 42.9 shooting percentage, going 27-for-63 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats went 32-for-62 in the game to total a 51.6 shooting percentage. Lake Superior State was outrebounded by NMU, 35-27, in the game.
Game One (Saturday, January 30)
First Half
Following the first twenty minutes of play, the Lakers trailed the Wildcats by four points, 35-31.
In the first three minutes of play, the two GLIAC rivals would exchange points but the Lakers would take a four point lead (7-3) at the 17:24 mark when David Wren made a three point jump shot. Kemon Bassett would score on back-to-back scoring plays for the Lakers with a layup and a jump shot to give the Lakers an 11-6 lead over NMU.
The Lakers extended the lead to nine points with 11:23 left to play in the half (19-10) as Brandon Allen and Xander Okerlund each came off the bench to contribute offensively for LSSU. The Wildcats would respond with a seven point run, led by Max Bjorklund who scored five points in the stretch.
Bjorklund would tie the game at 21 with 6:19 left in the half and would give the Wildcats their first lead since the opening minute of the game with a successful free throw to go ahead 22-21.
In the closing five minutes of the half, the two teams would exchange points as well as the lead. In the final ten seconds, Malek Adams would make a layup to bring the Lakers within four points of the home squad to close the first twenty minutes of play (35-31).
Bassett led the Lakers in the first half with 13 points, while Wren ranked second among his teammates with seven points in the half.
Second Half
The Lakers would even the score at 35 within the first three minutes when David Wren made a free throw and would follow with a second successful shot to give the Lakers their first lead in the second half (36-35). Bassett woud score on a layup with 16:14 left in the half and Wren capitalized on a steal to score on a dunk to give the Lakers a three point lead with 14:32 left (40-37).
When Northern’s Tre Harvey made a jump shot with 11:57 left in the half to tie the game at 44, which would be the last time in the contest that the score would be even.
The Lakers would outscore the Wildcats by an 11-3 margin in the next stretch of action to hold a nine point lead (56-47) with under seven minutes to play. NMU would try to rally in the final minutes but the closest they would come within the lead was four points.
Lake Superior State would secure the win by ten points, 70-60, to clinch the opening game of the series.
Breaking Down the Win
Bassett continued his dominance on the floor for the Lakers this season with a season-high 24 points in the game, recording his eighth consecutive game with double-digits in points. With 12 rebounds against the Wildcats, Bassett posted his third double-double of the season.
Wren joined Bassett as the other Laker with 10 or more points in the game with 15 points in the victory. Junior guard Justin Fischer finished the game with five points and a team-leading 13 rebounds.
The Lakers finished the game with a 41.7 shooting percentage, going 25-for-60 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats went 20-for-62 in the game to total a 32.3 shooting percentage. Lake Superior State outrebounded NMU, 46-31 in the game.
What’s Next
The Lakers will return home next weekend to take on the Davenport Panthers in a two game GLIAC series in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The opening game is set for a 3:00 p.m start on Friday, February 5 while the contest on Saturday, February 6 is set to tip off at 1:00 p.m.
