KENOSHA, Wisc. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team's win streak was snapped after a 90-61 loss to the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the De Simone Gymnasium in Kenosha, Wisc. Following the loss, the Lakers overall record sits at 16-8 while the team holds an 11-7 mark in conference play.
C.J. Robinson opened the scoring in the game with a three-pointer on the game's first possession. The GLIAC's leading scorer this season, Parkside's Tray Croft, responded with a three-pointer to tie the game at three at 18:31 of the first half. Robinson added a layup to regain the Laker lead early in the game (5-3).
Parkside tallied 12 of the next 14 points in the game to take an eight-point lead over the Lakers (15-7) through the first five minutes of the game.
David Wren, who was the Lakers leading scorer in the first half, made a jumper and a layup as the Lakers closed the gap to five points (21-16) with 12:11 left in the first half. The Rangers strung together six straight points in the next stretch as the home team extended their lead to double digits (27-16) for the first time in the game.
Justin Fischer made a layup with 6:31 left in the first twenty minutes to pull within eight points (30-22) but the Rangers would once again go on a scoring run to extend their lead. Parkside added the next 12 points to build a 20-point advantage with just over two minutes left in the first half.
Wren and Malek Adams each scored layups in the final two minutes to close out the half with the Lakers trailing 43-26.
Parkside opened the second half with nine straight points to extend the lead to 26 points (52-26). After Wren made two free throws, freshman Hunter Soper came off the bench and made a three pointer for the Lakers.
As the second half played on, the Lakers and Rangers traded points as the lead remained over 20 points for the home team. With under 10 minutes to play, Bassett and Adams each made layups for the Lakers. A few minutes later, Adams made two free throws and followed with a three-pointer with 7:19 left in the game (73-51).
The Lakers were unable to put together a late comeback in the closing minutes and fell in the conference game by a final score of 90-61.
Breaking Down the Game: Adams led the Lakers with 13 points in the win while Wren followed with 12 points as the other Laker to post a double-digit point total against the Rangers. Wren also led the Lakers in rebounds with five in the game while Robinson ranked first on the team with four assists,
The Lakers finished the game with a 39.3 shooting percentage, going 24-for-61 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the Rangers went 31-for-56 in the game to total a 55.4 shooting percentage. Parkside outrebounded Lake Superior State, 42-25, in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers will play their final series of the regular season next weekend as the team hosts the Northern Michigan Wildcats and Michigan Tech Huskies at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The game against the Wildcats is set for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, Feb. 24 while the Lakers will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26 against the Huskies at 3:00 p.m. Prior to Saturday's game, the team will hold a pre-game ceremony to honor the team's graduating seniors.
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