The Lakeland men's basketball team traveled to St. Clair County today to play the NJCAA's 11th-ranked Skippers in non-league action. The Lakers beat the Skippers on their home court 2 weeks ago, but this time, Lakeland came up just short in a tightly contested 76-69 loss. The first half featured the Lakers trailing by 2-4 points until the 11 minute mark when Kaleb Wanamaker connected on a 3-pointer to draw the Lakers within 1 point at 16-15. After an SC4 miss, Brandon Moore would score on a layup to put the Lakers up 17-16. SC4 would then score a 3-pointer before Ben Hamilton answered with a 3 of his own. The Lakers then had a rough couple of minutes as they missed a couple of shots and had a turnover allowing the Skippers to build a 27-22 lead. Devin Belle would then score a layup before SC4 also scored a layup. Hamilton then stepped to the line and sank 2 free throws. The teams would then exchange a made free throw before Donovan Herron made a layup to bring the Lakers within 1 at 30-29. After a made SC4 free throw, Wanamaker would score on another layup to tie the score at 31. After an SC4 miss, Herron would hit another layup for a 33-31 Laker lead. SC4 would miss on their next possession before David McClain scored a layup to put the Lakers up 35-31. Lakeland would hold that lead and go into the break with a 37-35 lead.

To start the second half, the Lakers slowly expanded their lead to 7 points and held a 52-45 advantage after a Ben Hamilton 3-pointer with 10:22 to play. The Lakers then missed their next two shots and had a turnover while SC4 didn't miss - suddenly the score was knotted at 54 with 8:22 to play. The teams would continue to trade scores with SC4 slowly growing the lead to 4 points. Devin Belle would then connect on a 3-pointer to bring the Lakers with 1 point, 70-69 with 52 seconds to play. SC4 would then make a layup before fouling the Lakers and putting them on the line. This time, the normally solid free throw shooting Lakers, missed both and then fouled SC4. SC4 connected with both free throws and then were able to hold on for the win.

Lakeland finished with 3 scorers in double digits as Devin Belle led the team with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Kaleb Wanamaker finished his afternoon with 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals while Ben Hamilton recorded 14 points and 4 boards. Brandon Moore picked up 8 points and 3 assists while Donovan Herron finished with 6 points for the Lakers. Adam Williams finished with 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals while Eric Cook led Lakeland with 7 rebounds.  

T's Talk: "This was our best effort of the year so far on the road. We played well and had our chances. Credit St. Clair as they are a very good team."

Next Up: The Lakers will need to regroup quickly as they travel to Jamestown on Tuesday (12/3) to play the Jayhawks in a 7:30 pm tilt.