Photo by: Christopher Corso

(PAINESVILLE, Ohio) - The Lake Erie men's basketball team (0-8, 0-8 G-MAC) came out of the gates with high energy on both ends of the court. The impressive first half didn't hold over well after the intermission en route to a 72-62 loss on Monday against  No. 7 Findlay (12-1, 11-1 G-MAC). 

In the first half, the Storm shot 48.3 percent and held Findlay to 30.3 percent. Early on it seemed as if Lake Erie was poised for a home upset as the team went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a 35-26 halftime lead. The Storm's largest lead of 10 points came with 1:35 left to play in half number one. 

After the first half break, it was evident that the Oilers made some rapid adjustments to the aggressive Lake Erie squad. Findlay cranked up the intensity and forced eight second-half turnovers. Findlay would go on to finish the game scoring 24 points off of the Lake Erie season-high 26 turnovers.  

Nathan Burns led the way for Findlay with 23 points. After a slow first half, Tommy Schmock finished the game with 17 points and went a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line.  

Lake Erie was led by Jacob Plantz, who finished the game with 20 points. Leon Hughes was the only other Storm member in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Jonny Manning finished with nine points, five rebounds, and three blocks. 

In the loss, the Storm outshot the Oilers 46.4 percent (26-56) to Findlay's 34.9 percent (22-63). Both teams struggled shooting from three-point range as Lake Erie converted on only 9 of 26 attempts compared to Findlay's 5 of 23. 

Up next the Storm will travel to Owensboro, Kentucky to take on the (8-4, 7-4 G-MAC) Panthers of Kentucky Wesleyan. Game time is set for 8:45 pm on Wednesday, Feb. 4.