ERIE, Pa. (November 29, 2008) - Lake Erie College's patience
nearly pulled off a come-from-behind victory Saturday evening
against Goshen College in the Gannon Gary Miller Classic as the
Storm came to within six points after trailing by as many as 23 in
the second half. The Storm lost the consolation round game 91-83,
with the Leafs sealing the deal at the line.
The game got off to a good start with Goshen turning the ball
over on its first possession and Lake Erie's Velkjo Lalovic
(Podgorica, Montenegro) making the first of his career-high 18
points on a layup. The Leafs responded with a 3-pointer on the
opposite end to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Sharp-shooting from the field helped Goshen go up on the Storm by
22 at the conclusion of the first half, 48-22 with the Leafs
shooting 71-percent from the field (17-for-24), including an
8-for-12 effort from three-point territory and a 6-for-8
performance from the line. The Storm shot 34-percent from the floor
(11-for-32) going 2-for-8 on three-point attempts and 2-for-3 from
the stripe.
The Leafs increased their lead to 23 just one minute into the
second half and kept that distance until the 18-minute mark. Still
trailing by 21 with 15 minutes to go, it was at that point the
Storm began making up ground. Lake Erie went on a 14-6 run in the
next three minutes to cut the lead to 13 at 66-53 with 12 minutes
to play. The deficit hovered around that mark until 9:09 when Lake
Erie posted a 15-8 run to make the score 80-74 with three minutes
remaining. Goshen made just one basket the rest of the way but went
a perfect 9-for-9 from the line. They finished the game 36-for-46
from the stripe.
Lake Erie concluded the evening with a 49-percent effort from
the field (32-for-65) connecting on 8-of-18 attempts from long
distance. The Storm recorded 42 of its points in the paint. Senior
forward Rick Leasure (Concord, Ohio/Riverside) scored 19 points
with a team-best five rebounds. Lalovic also had five boards, while
senior forward Derrick Thornton (University Heights, Ohio/Lutheran
East) chipped in 17 points. Senior guard John Dickinson (Euclid,
Ohio/Euclid) totaled six of the team's 16 assists.
Lake Erie (1-6) travels to Clarion University on Wednesday at 7
p.m.
