EVANSVILLE, Ind. (January 26, 2009) - Lake Erie College had a tough assignment Monday night, not only taking on No. 21 Southern Indiana on the road, but going up against the Screaming Eagles who have only lost one game on its home court this season. After watching the hosts put up a 64-percent shooting effort that included a 69-percent display from long distance, it's no wonder they lead the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) western division. And considering the strength of the nationally-ranked program, it's good news for the Storm, who despite recording its biggest loss of this season, can hold its head up high.

The Storm got out to a 4-0 nothing lead on SIU before a bucket and two quick Storm turnovers shot the Eagles straight past the deficit. Lake Erie's Matt Grendel (Independence, Ohio/Independence), who scored the team's opening basket, drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at seven. Senior Rick Leasure (Concord, Ohio/Riverside) picked the opponent's pocket and laid one in from the paint to put Lake Erie back on top. Another Eagle turnover was followed by another Storm layup to make the score, 11-7 with 15:34 on the clock. The game was tied at 13 a minute later and that's when the Eagles began to pull away, however, the advantage didn't reach double digits until just under the six-minute mark.

The half ended with Lake Erie trailing, 56-31 even after shooting 41-percent from the field (13-for-32). Southern Indiana took the same amount of shots, but was able to connect eight more times, with eight field goals coming from outside the arc.

The second period saw similar shooting performances, but the Storm held the nationally-ranked program to 12 less points than in the first half.

Leasure finished the night with a team-high 16 points on a 7-for-15 presentation from the floor. He also had six rebounds. Senior Derrick Thornton (University Heights, Ohio/Lutheran East) scored 14 points and had team-leading totals of seven rebounds and five assists. Senior John Dickinson (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) contributed 10 points, three steals and two assists.

Lake Erie (5-15) remains on the road for its next game on Jan. 31 against Urbana at 3 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on WELW 1330 AM and welw.com.