PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie men's basketball team hosted local USCAA member Bryant & Stratton on Tuesday in the Storm's home opener. It would be a memorable one, as the Storm cruised to a 122-62 victory, smashing the program's single-game scoring record in the process. With the win, Lake Erie moves to 2-1 on the season.
Game Recap
The Bobcats captured the first basket of the game but would never lead from that point on. From the 7th minute in, the Storm obtained a double-digit lead and only poured more gas to the fire from there. Much of the early lead can be attributed to the lights-out shooting of
Caleb Piks, as he was unconscious from downtown, making all five of his three-point tries. He had 15 points midway through the first half and was certainly on pace for a historic night, but the score was already getting out-of-hand and he only finished the game with 11 total minutes played.
The Storm were up by 22 points with five minutes remaining in the half and closed on a 18-2 streak, pushing lead at halftime to 64-26. Lake Erie's bench outscored Bryant & Stratton's entire team 31-26 in the half, as Coach Conley was able to dial up his reserves early on.
Bryant & Stratton put up a fair fight coming out of the break, and in the first ten minutes of the second half, actually won those minutes, very slightly cutting into Lake Erie's lead. For added context, Lake Erie's starters played sparring minutes the entire second half and the lead was still 36 points in favor of the Storm, but still, props to the Bobcats. From here, Lake Erie punctuated their lead largely due to the play of
Solomon Kuol, as from minutes 9:34-7:30, he went off for 10 points on perfect 4-4 shooting. With 6:06 left in the game, Solomon had an absolutely ridiculous block that had Jerome T. Osborne Athletic Center going crazy. His key minutes along with many other reserves allowed the starters to rest and were the main reason Lake Erie was able to set a school record in points. The 60-point margin of victory is almost certainly a program record as well.
Analysis
Despite the temptation to curb enthusiasm on the game due to squaring off against a junior college, it can't be understated how good this Storm team actually
looked. Yes, their opponent was a USCAA team coming off of a six-win season. Put that aside for a second and listen up: this Lake Erie team is legit. They have shooting. They have enough size and athleticism. They are unwilling passers. They hustle their butts off. And more importantly than anything, they have a great coach with players that are willing to buy into the system. This team is vastly exceeding expectations for how fast it typically takes to gel together. Are all the fine details ironed out? No. Are there still many areas where they can vastly improve? Yes, and that's what so exciting about this team.
The full-court press is absolutely electric. There were so many times this game where the intense pressure led to an easy turnover and scoring opportunity. Other times, the Bobcats were able to get behind the high defenders, yet the Storm recovered quick and defended exceptionally against the fast-break. Even when their opponent successfully broke the press and were able to set up their offense in the half-court, the Bobcats had much less shot-clock to work with, speeding up their sets and settling for worse shot quality than normal. Coach Conley's signature high-intensity coverage worked like a charm in this matchup.
The Storm emptied their bench in this game using 19 differing players, all of whom scored. Nobody played more than 16 minutes and everyone played at least three. Here is the breakdown:
Points - Solomon Kuol (18), Caleb Piks (15), Derrick Anderson (12), Cameron Johnson (12), Kai Bloom (9), Todd Simons (8), Micah Bays (7), C.J. Hornbeak (7), Ronnie Leonard (6), Aidan Filippini (6), Griffin Turay (3), Trace Bishko (3), Josh Irwin (3), Alan Swenson (3), Joshua Dames (2), Jake Leibacher (2),
Aidan Slocum (2),
Gio Moore (2), and
Kohler Niedermaier (2). For Kohler, these were his first collegiate points.
Looking Ahead
The Storm play host yet again when Great Lakes Christian College visit on Friday for a matchup at 6 p.m. The Crusaders are a part of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and are slightly above-average in D-II. They are currently 3-2 on the season with wins over schools such as Miami University-Middletown, Defiance College, and Siena Heights. They are led by their 5'11 senior guard Darien Banks who is averaging north of 20 points/game so far this year.
