SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's basketball team (2-4, 1-0 GLIAC) came away with a dominant 81-61 victory over the visiting Panthers of Davenport University (1-5, 0-1 GLIAC) to open Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Play on Thursday.
Senior Kemon Bassett (Detroit, Mich.) helped the Lakers to get off to a fast start, contorting his body to open the scoring with a layup over the six-foot-eleven Panthers' center to open up an early 9-2 scoring run. They would then follow that with a 10-2 run behind multiple three-pointers from Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) to give his team a 19-7 advantage before the under-12 media timeout. Davenport was able to get back to within four, but the Lakers responded in force with an 11-0 run to extend their lead back to double-digits. Both teams would then trade several baskets before David Wren (Ypsilanti, Mich.) closed out an action-packed opening half with a fast break layup in the final seconds to take a 42-30 lead into the halftime break.
The Lakers struck quickly in the second half with an early 7-0 run that featured an Edmondson three, and they followed it with an emphatic 16-2 run that was capped off with an and-one from Wren. Both teams continued to battle down the stretch, but the Lakers would ultimately come away with the decisive victory by a final score of 81-61, leading wire to wire.
Five different Lakers scored double-digits on the night with Edmondson leading the way with 19 points shooting a very efficient 86 percent from the field, including an 83 percent mark from beyond the arc. Caden Ebeling (Shelby, Twp., Mich.) and Bassett each finished with 13 points while Okerlund ended the night with 12 points and Wren contributed 11 off the bench. Meanwhile, Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) led all players with seven rebounds while also having a pair of blocks defensively.
The Lakers return to action on Saturday, Dec. 3 when they host the Grand Valley State Lakers in Bud Cooper Gymnasium with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.