PAINESVILLE, Ohio. – The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men’s basketball team (1-0) completed the comeback in the second half to open their season with a victory on the road against the Lake Erie Storm (0-1) by a final score of 67-63 as part of the G-MAC/GLIAC Challenge on Friday.
LSSU got off to a slow start as the Storm raced ahead to a 19-5 lead, but the Lakers would then catch fire with multiple baskets from Devin Womack (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) before back-to-back threes from senior Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) had the Lakers back within three. Laker Erie was able to take a 31-26 lead into the halftime break, but the Lakers had seized the momentum and would be looking to continue to press their attack in the second half.
Early in the second half, a layup from Hunter Soper (Lexington, Mich.) cut the lead down to a single point, and threes from Omar Suleiman (Canton, Mich.) and Womack gave LSSU their first lead since the score was 3-2. The Storm were able to retake the lead with an 8-0 run of their own, but the Lakers responded with a 10-0 run that featured a pair of threes from Suleiman to go back in front. Lake Erie was able to get back to within one with 36 seconds remaining, but Womack and Okerlund iced the game away at the free throw line to secure the 67-63 victory in their season opener.
Suleiman and Okerlund tied for the team lead in scoring with 15 points each with Suleiman converting on 50 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Womack and Perkins would also finish with double-digit scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively, and Perkins was also able to secure 10 rebounds for the double-double. Meanwhile, Soper led all players in rebounding with 11 on the night.
The Lakers will now turn their attention to former GLIAC rival Northwood in a neutral site matchup on Saturday, Nov. 11 with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
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