BIG RAPIDS, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team fell by a final score 84-67 to the No. 11 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs in the final Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season game on Thursday, Feb. 27 in Big Rapids, Mich.
The Lakers and the Bulldogs played to a 46-37 score in the first half with Ferris State holding the score advantage. In the opening two minutes of play, the Lakers were trailing by a score of 8-4. Sophomore Justin Fischer brought the Lakers within three points when he sunk a three-pointer and the tied the game on the next scoring play with another three-point jump shot (10-10).
Through the next stretch of action, the game remained even between the two conference rivals as the teams were tied at 14 with just under 14 minutes left in the first half.
But the Bulldogs would begin to pull away, leading the Lakers by a score of 26-18 at the halfway point of the first half. The Lakers would keep chipping away at the lead built by Ferris State bringing the deficit to three points at multiple times before evening the game with 6:50 left to play. Ke'Montrece Collins made a three-point shot for the Lakers to make it 30 points for each team in the late stages of the half.
In the final four minutes of the opening half, Ferris State would outscore the Lakers by a 14-5 margin, to end the first twenty minutes of play ahead by a score of 46-37.
Ashton Sherrell opened the second half scoring as he made a layup to bring the Lakers within seven points (46-39). Ferris State would answer with a run of eight straight points to take a 15 point lead over the Lakers with 13:15 left in the game.
Brandon Allen would make a three point jump shot to begin the Lakers comeback with 12:15 left in the half. At 8:51 of the game, Fischer would cut the Bulldogs lead to single digits as he made a layup to put the Lakers at 50 points, compared to 58 for the Bulldogs.
C.J. Robinson would net a three-point jump shot with 5:36 left in regulation as he kept the Lakers deficit under 10 points (66-57). Ferris State would not let the Lakers keep the lead for long as the Bulldogs scored eight points in under two minutes to take a 19 point lead against the Lakers (77-58).
Despite the Lakers strong effort to comeback and tie the game in the second half, the team could not hold off the Bulldogs offense as the game ended in a final score of 84-67.
Fischer led the Lakers in points with 16 in the game while also adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Robinson ranked second among the Lakers with 12 points in the effort while Collins capped off his career as a Laker with 12 points and nine rebounds.
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