After collecting a pair of victories last weekend and gaining five spots in the national polls, No. 13 Lake Superior State travels to face a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division foes in Ohio Dominican on Thursday January 7th and Tiffin on Saturday January 9th.
The Lakers (11-1, 6-0 GLIAC) improved five spots to No. 13 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Top 25 Poll following an 82-76 victory over Ashland who fell five positions from No. 16 to No. 21 this week. The Lakers also picked up an 89-80 victory over a resilient Lake Erie team that clawed their way back into the game during the second half.
Sophomore guard Akaemji Williams led the Lakers last weekend by scoring 15 points in both games and dishing out 13 assists on Saturday and 11 assists in Sunday’s contest.
Williams ranks 5th among GLIAC players with 18.3 points per game and 2nd in assists per game with 6.7, trailing only Northwood’s Maurice Jones (7.1 apg).
The Rochester, Mich., native is also producing impressive numbers defensively, much like he did during his freshman year when he was named to the GLIAC All-Defensive team. Williams is averaging a GLIAC-best 2.75 steals per game, tying for 9th nationally.
The Lakers are tied for 2nd with Grand Valley State for allowing only 66.2 points per game to opposing teams. The defense also tops the GLIAC with 9.0 steals per game; ranks second in both blocked shots (4.1 blocks per game) and have the 4th ranked opponent field goal percentage (40.4 percent).
Senior Devin Daly leads the Lakers in scoring with 22.3 ppg and is tied for 2nd in GLIAC scoring with Jones. Daly is also averages 9.3 rebounds per game to tie for 3rd in the GLIAC.
Daly carried the Lakers through the dog fight with then No. 13 Ashland on Sunday, scoring 24 points, collecting three rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal in the victory.
Ohio Dominican enters the matchup on Thursday with a 3-9 overall record and has gone 0-6 in GLIAC contests this season. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and a free live-video stream of the game will be available at FREE. ESPN Radio 1400 will also carry live simulcast coverage of the game.
The Panthers have lost seven games in-a-row since defeating Silver Lake on Nov. 21 and dropped an exhibition contest to Ohio University in that time.
Senior forward Trent Weaver leads the Panthers in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (9.3rpg).
On Saturday the Lakers face a Tiffin team that beat Northern Michigan 57-56 on Saturday before falling to Michigan Tech 76-59 on Sunday.
The Lakers and Dragons (6-7, 2-4 GLIAC) will meet at 3 p.m. on Saturday. A live video stream of the game will be available at Gotiffindragons.
com and ESPN Radio 1400 will carry a live simulcast of the action.
Tony Kynard, a sophomore guard, leads the Dragons with 16.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Kynard has had to fill a scoring void left by senior forward Khaleal McCormick who hasn’t played since a 78-76 loss against Kentucky Wesleyan.
The Lakers will again be on the road next weekend as they travel to Saginaw Valley and Hillsdale. The matchup with the Cardinals (9-2, 6-0 GLIAC on Jan. 14 could decide the top spot in the North Division standings.
Source: LSSU Athletics