Men's Basketball Punches Ticket to Mott for Semi-Final Round of Great Lakes District Tournament
Men's basketball came into Tuesday's contest with one simple goal, earn one more game. The Lakers would need to do so by going through the North Central Michigan College Timberwolves.
This game marked the first official round of the Region XII Great Lakes District C tournament. The winnner would inch closer to an automatic bid to the national tournament. The winner of each of the three Great Lakes Districts earns an auto bid to nationals, and a win in this game would get the winner just two more wins away from earning that bid.
The Lakers, as the 2 seed of the MCCAA Northern Conference, drew the 5 seed of the MCCAA Northern Conference, the NCMC Timberwolves. This would prove to be a tough test, and a game that would be earned. In their previous two meetings this season, the Lakers dropped the contest in Petosky 80-75, but bested the Timberwolves in Mount Pleasant 92-71. This third meeting between the teams would feature enhanced stakes and high intensity.
The Lakers and Timberwolves fought back and forth early in the game, playing each other within a possession or two. Eventually, the Lakers would build a double digit lead, one they would take into the halftime intermission, leading the Timberwolves 43-30.
In the second half, the intensity ramped up with the Timberwolves hoping to overcome the halftime deficit. With their season on the line, they buckled down and began cutting into the lead, trading buckets with the Lakers. In what would be a back-and-forth second half, the Lakers prevailed, despite a tremendous second half effort by the visiting Timberwolves. The Lakers would win the game, 81-66 punching their ticket to the second round of the tournament at the Balenger Fieldhouse, located at Mott Community College.
The Lakers were led in scoring by Nick Ellis with 20 points on 8-12 shooting. Ellis also grabbed 4 rebounds and blocked a shot. James Wright was next in line for the Lakers, scoring 18 points on 8-16 shooting. Wright also added 4 rebounds. Delon McCloud added 13 points, 8 rebounds, and a pair of steals. De'Antre Griffin influenced the game in numerous ways with a monster game on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds to go with his 10 points in a double-double performance. Griffin also dished 3 assists and blocked 2 shots.
The Lakers have earned a rematch with the Saint Clair County Community College Skippers in the semi-final round of the Great Lakes District C tournament. The two teams matched up the first game of the non-conference season in November when the Skippers traveled to Mount Pleasant. The Lakers found themselves trailing by 5 at halftime, and came back to force overtime. The Lakers ended up besting the Skippers 91-86 in the game. The rematch will have enhanced stakes on the line, with the winner advancing to the championship game in the district tournament, and a shot at earning their spot at nationals, while the loser's season will end.
The game with the Skippers at Mott will be played on Friday, 3/8 and will tip at 11:00 AM.