PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- On Friday night, the Lake Erie men's basketball team hosted Miami-Middletown for the Storm's fourth consecutive home game. The Storm had dominated their three previous opponents, winning by an average margin of 49 points, and the Thunderhawks would prove no different, as Lake Erie easily cruised to a 125-74 victory. The Storm are averaging over 102 points/game through six games so far, leading them to a 5-1 record, their best since the 2006-2007 season where they not only also started 5-1 but continued 22-1 and finished the season competing in the NCAA tournament. Additionally in Friday night's game, the Storm tied the G-MAC record for steals in a single game with 26. 

Game Recap

Through the first six minutes of action, both teams were still adjusting to the pace of play and the score was just 13-6 in favor of Lake Erie. From here, the Storm would hold Miami-Middletown scoreless their next nine possessions and go on an 11-0 run, forecasting the blowout-to-be. Lake Erie would hold the Thunderhawks to just 14 points in the first 14 minutes of the game. Their stifling defense and dynamic press completely overpowered their opponent, as Miami found it incredibly challenging all game to even reach half-court. Ultimately, Lake Erie's pressure forced the Thunderhawks into an unbelievable 18 first-half turnovers on just 27 shot attempts. Think about that for a second. For an entire half, every three shot attempts came at the expense of two turnovers. On top of that, the shot selection that they were forced to take were extremely low quality, as seen by their 37% field goal percentage. As for Lake Erie at halftime, no player had seven or more points yet 13 different players had scored, a true testament to the unselfishness and ball-distribution that Coach Conley emphasizes to his squad.

Coming out of the break with a 56-30 lead, after a quick Miami bucket on their first trip down the court, the Storm had another one of their signature mini-runs. From 19:23-16:12, Lake Erie's defense clamped up, forcing five turnovers and held their opponent scoreless while they themselves scored ten unanswered points, pushing their lead 34 points. They would slowly extend this lead to its peak of 52 points before the final buzzer sounded off, declaring the Storm winners by 51 points in a 125-74 rout. 

Analysis

Although the Storm's most recent competition has admittedly been much weaker than what they will square off against when G-MAC competition starts in December, the identity of the team is crystal clear: pressure like crazy on defense, run in transition, move the ball around on offense, get to the rack/find an open shooter, crash the glass on both ends, and get the bench highly-involved. Let's further break down each of these six strategies mentioned. 

1. Pressure like Crazy on Defense -- Through six games the Storm are averaging 15.5 steals/contest, firmly leading the G-MAC. In Friday's game, the Storm tied the G-MAC record for steals in a game with 26. In totality, they forced 36 turnovers against the Thunderhawks, a true defensive masterclass from start to finish.

2. Running in Transition -- In all six games so far this season, the team that has more fast-break points has won the game. However, this is a small sample-size. What about last season? In 28 Storm games last year, only four times did the winning team have fewer fast-break points than their opponent. Running in transition on offense is a great way to get easy looks and has a high correlation with team success. Coach Conley has made this a point of emphasis so far starting the 2024-2025 season. The team is averaging 21.5 points from fast-breaks, quite literally over double the figure from last season (10.07). 

3. Moving the Ball Around on Offense -- Unlike watching many other teams in all levels of basketball where star players are given free reign to isolate and create baskets for themselves, the Storm make it a clear emphasis that although they're all certainly capable of doing just that, their plan of attack is to stretch the defense thin by down-screens, back-doors, and other off-ball action. Almost never will a Lake Erie player "dribble the life out of the ball". 

4. Getting to the Rack/Finding Shooters -- The Storm live and die by restricted area and from 22+ feet. These are the spots on the court with the highest expected value per shot. So far in the NBA this season, 86% of all shots have come from inside six feet or beyond the three-point line. This is fairly reflective of Lake Erie's mindset as well, as it simply doesn't make much sense for them to take other shots. Although the Storm continue to struggle at knocking down threes (30.8%), it really makes sense for them to keep firing. 

5. Crashing the Glass -- A huge strength of last year's team was fighting for offensive rebounds and this new squad is picking right back where they left off. Through six games, the Storm collected 108 offensive rebounds compared to their opponents' 56, and they're out-rebounding opponents in general 276-209. 

6. Bench Productivity -- Last season in competitive games, the Storm typically played 8-12 people, with the top seven getting the heavy bulk the minutes. So far this season, Coach Conley has been typically running two different platoons and subbing them in together. When the five starters get tired, they all come out for five fresh bodies, who are then replaced with the starters in a cycle for a total of 10 consistently-used players. However, as best seen in the opener against Lake Superior State, a tight game from start to finish, there are a good 3-5 additional players that Coach believes also deserve playing time. This is a true testament to how deep the team is.

Storm Game Leaders

Points - Josh Irwin (18, collegiate career high), Micah Bays (17), Griffin Turay (12), C.J. Hornbeak (12), and Kai Bloom (9). 

Rebounds - Josh Irwin (7), Todd Simons (5), Griffin Turay (4), and Kai Bloom, Cameron Johnson, Jake Leibacher, Ronnie Leonard, Alan Swenson, and Aidan Filippini with three each. 

Assists - Derrick Anderson (6), Kai Bloom (5), Aidan Slocum (3), and Trace Bishko (3). 

Steals - Kai Bloom (3), Josh Irwin (3), Griffin Turay (3), Alan Swenson (2), C.J. Hornbeak (2), Joshua Dames (2), Todd Simons (2), Cameron Johnson (2), and Solomon Kuol (2). 

Blocks - Cameron Johnson (2) and Jake Leibacher (1). 

Looking Ahead

The Storm will ramp up their competition as they head over to D'Youville on Sunday. This will be the first time the programs' matchup against each other. The Saints are currently 2-3 on the season and are led by 6'7 Justin Moore (18 points/game), 6'9 Jordan Turner (14 points/game), and 6'7 Trayton Trice (12 points, 6 rebounds). After D'Youville, the Storm will be back home to take on Slippery Rock on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Slippery Rock is also 2-3 thus far, claiming wins over Shaw and Wheeling, while suffering losses to Virginia Union, Fairmont State and West Chester.