PAINESVILLE, OHIO—Sophomore Jamil Dudley's 20 points in his first regular season start, and a career night from junior Tom Parker led the Lake Erie College men's basketball team to a decisive 95-79 win over Point Park University on Wednesday night (Nov. 14) in their 2012-13 regular season opener at the Jerome T. Osborne Family Athletic and Wellness Center.

After a frantic-paced first half that saw Lake Erie (1-0) take a 44-38 lead, the Storm broke the game open with an 18-4 run to start the second half. Junior forward Rich Austin (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and Dudley (Massillon, Ohio/Massillon) fueled the charge, combining for 13 points during the run as the Storm ultimately increased their lead to 20 points.

Lake Erie came out strong with a 44-point opening half. Parker (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Ignatius) led the Storm with 10 points and four assists in the half while Dudley added nine points, shooting 4-5 in the half, including two electrifying dunks. Austin also added eight points and grabbed five boards in the opening 20 minutes.

The Storm outrebounded (25-17) and outshot (.474-.429) Point Park (2-1) in the first half.

After halftime, the Pioneers could not halt the Storm momentum as Dudley hit a pair of three-pointers to increase the lead to 82-60-their biggest of the night-with seven minutes to play. From that point, the Storm was able to play all 15 players that dressed, getting some valuable game action for several first-year players in their college debut. In all, a dozen Lake Erie players scored in the game.

Parker had a strong all-around night to lead the Storm, picking up career highs in points (17), assists (6), rebounds (5) and steals (6). The junior shot 7-8 from the field, including 3-3 from beyond the arch. Dudley hit 4-6 three-point attempts, picking up a team high 20 points in his first regular season start. He was 7-10 shooting and added two rebounds, a steal and a block.

Austin nearly picked up a double-double for the Storm, picking up 15 points and nine boards. Redshirt junior Garrick Sims (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) was scored six points, 2-2 from the field, and grabbed four boards in his first game back from injury that kept him out during the 2011-12 season.

Josh Arnold scored a game-high 23 points for Point Park and grabbed 13 boards for the double-doube. Babtunder Somoye and Gabe McNeal scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.

For the game, the Storm outshot the Pioneers 52.8%-45.2% and hit 50% of their three-point attempts while holding the Pioneers to just 18.2%. The Storm also won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Pioneers 49-33.

The win was the fourth straight in a season-opener for Lake Erie.

The Storm travel to South Euclid, Ohio on Tuesday, Nov. 20, to face traditional, non-conference rival Notre Dame College at 7:00 pm.

-LEC-