Lakers Men’s Basketball Set for NCAA Opening Round Against Walsh

by Sports Team

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Lake Superior State (LSSU) basketball program (21-8) has been selected for the big dance for the first time since 2018 where they will face the No. 3 seeded Walsh Cavaliers (24-5) in the opening round on Saturday, March 16 with tipoff scheduled for 12 p.m.

Also in the Midwest Regional, No. 1 UIndy will host No. 8 William Jewell, No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan will take on No. 7 Upper Iowa, and GLIAC foes No. 4 Northern Michigan and No. 5 Ferris State will face off against each other to wrap up the evening.

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Last Time Out

LSSU will be looking to shake off an 87-78 loss at the hands of Wayne State in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament in which all five starters for the Lakers ended the night in double-figures. However, Wayne State’s 21-22 shooting at the free throw line proved to be the difference.

Meanwhile, Walsh is coming off of a run to the 2024 G-MAC Tournament Championship, but they trailed at the half in all three of their postseason games.

Notable Athletes

The Cavaliers are led by First Team All-G-MAC guards Garrison Keeslar and Kobe Mitchell, but the Lakers boast a pair of first team all-conference selections of their own with Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) having been selected to the All-GLIAC First Team themselves. Perkins was also selected to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team as well as being named as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring a defense that ended the regular season holding opponents to a league-best 68.0 points per game.


Stories to Watch

  • The Lakers are making their first appearance in the NCAA National Tournament since 2018.
  • Senior Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) enters the opening round six points shy of reaching the LSSU 1,000-point club.
  • The Midwest Regional is being hosted by the University of Indianapolis for the second year in a row, but the Lakers already have a win in the Greyhounds’ building on the year with a 64-62 victory over UIndy back in November.
    • Edmondson and Okerlund combined for 36 points on the day in the win.
  • The Lakers are 2-0 against G-MAC opponents after opening the season with wins over Northwood and Lake Erie in the G-MAC/GLIAC Challenge, but the Cavaliers are 1-0 when facing GLIAC competition with a victory over Grand Valley State on Nov. 11 to open their season.
    • Neither team has faced an opponent from the other’s respective league since opening weekend.
  • The Lakers rank fifth nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 40.7 and they are tenth in the nation in assist to turnover ratio (1.54).
  • The Cavaliers are second in the nation in both fouls (12.1) and turnovers (8.2) per game, but they counter this with the national leader in assist to turnover ratio in Keeslar (4.18) as well as the fifth ranked scoring defense, holding opponents to 62.3 points per game. 

NCAA Tournament – Midwest Regional

Saturday, March 16

Game One: #3 Walsh vs. #3 Lake Superior State | 12:00 p.m.
Game Two: #2 Kentucky Wesleyan vs. #7 Upper Iowa | 2:30 p.m.
Game Three: #1 UIndy vs. #8 William Jewell | 5:00 p.m.
Game Four: #4 Northern Michigan vs. #5 Ferris State | 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 17

Game Five: Game One winner vs. Game Two winner | 5:00 p.m.
Game Six: Game Three winner vs. Game Four winner | 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 19

Game Seven: Game Five winner vs. Game Six winner | 7:00 p.m.

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