BIG RAPIDS, Michigan -- The Lake Erie men's basketball team opened their 2024-2025 campaign on Friday in the annual GLIAC/G-MAC Crossover against Lake Superior State. The Lakers were the preseason favorites to win the GLIAC, started their season 2-0 highlighted by a 20-point victory against #7 Gannon, and received many votes to be ranked nationally inside the top-25. However, the Storm put everyone on notice, walking out with a 77-70 victory, a sign of good things to come from this fresh young squad.

Game Recap

The first five minutes must have felt like a dream come true for Coach Conley, as his inexperienced team found it's up 13-0 against a powerhouse of an opponent. The Storm's offense found success at every level and from a variety of players, as Derrick Anderson found room in the paint, Cameron Johnson and Anderson hit mid-range jumpers, Joshua Dames converted both of his free throw attempts, Johnson splashed home a three, and Aidan Filippini ran a fast-break to perfection. On the defensive side, their heavy pressure resulted in four turnovers and six highly contested three-point attempts that wouldn't fall. This start was exactly the tone Lake Erie needed to set and was the main factor of their win. 

As talented teams do, Lake Superior State clawed back, cutting the Storm lead to just five with nine minutes remaining in the first half. However, Notre Dame College transfer Kai Bloom would respond with two quick layups to push the Lake Erie lead back up to nine. After some back-and-forth action, Joshua Dames would hit consecutive three-pointers to increase the lead back to double-digits where it would remain for the rest of the period. At one point, the margin reached a game-high of 16 following a Todd Simons jumper. At the break, the Storm enjoyed a comfortable 13-point lead, highlighted by 11 points from Cameron Johnson, eight from Joshua Dames, six points and four assists by Derrick Anderson, and five points with two assists on perfect shooting effeciency from Gio Moore. As a team, Lake Erie led in scoring efficiency from all aspects, greatly out-rebounded the Lakers, had more assists, fewer turnovers, and twice as many steals as their opponent. 

Out of halftime, the Storm quickly pushed their lead up to 15, but from the 16th-minute on, the margin would lie in single-digits. The story seemingly flipped this half, shots weren't falling as easily, the offense stagnated (three assists in the entire period), the rebounding advantage shifted to Lake Superior State, and they weren't as disruptive in the passing-lanes on the defensive side. As the four-minute mark rolled around, the game was tied, and with 2:25 left, the Storm found themselves trailing for the first time in the entire game. After two free throws from Derrick Anderson, the teams found themselves knotted once again, this time at 70 apiece. However, from this point on, the Storm put the clamps on defensively, as the Lakers missed their final seven shots, failing to score even a single point. As for Lake Erie, a standing ovation needs to be made for their free throw shooting, as they sunk seven huge ones down the stretch to tie, take the lead, stretch it, and seal the game. 

Analysis

Lake Erie's 13-0 run to start the game, the free throw shooting discrepancy, and the Storm's ability to defend at a high level without fouling were the key takeaways from this one. The Storm shot an impressive 19-23 (82.%) from the charity stripe compared to the Lakers measly 12-22 (54.5%), a seven-point advantage at the line which would ironically be the difference in the final score. Additionally, albeit suffering from a poor shooting night from the field themselves (26-67, 38.8%) and from downtown (6-21, 28.6%), Lake Erie's defense allowed them to not just be competitive, but to lead for almost the entirety of the game. In the Laker's game against #7 Gannon, they shot 14-28 from beyond the three-point arc. Against the Storm, they shot a pedestrian 6-27, good for a whopping 22.2%. The Storm had great close-outs and contests against Lake Superior State's shooters, something worked on obsessively in the off-season. 

The Storm had four people reach double-digit scoring marks: Cameron Johnson (17), Joshua Dames (17), Gio Moore (14), and Derrick Anderson (10). Moving to assists, Anderson (5), Jake Leibacher (3), and Kai Bloom (2) were the lone players to have multiple for the Storm. Lake Erie had a great rebounding performance across the board, highlighted by Cameron Johnson (11), Joshua Dames (6), and Jake Leibacher (6). Todd Simons (5) and Griffin Turay (4) both also crashed the glass at a very high rate in much fewer minutes than the aforementioned leaders. Caleb Piks and Jake Leibacher each contributed two steals, leading the team. Josh Irwin got into the scoring column in just eight minutes of action, and Micah Bays recorded an assist in just two minutes on the court. 

The Matchup

Dating back to their first appearance in 2011, the Storm were never quite able to sneak out a victory against the pesky Lakers. Half of the games were decided by five or fewer points, yet Lake Erie could seemingly never get over the hump. This changed on Friday, as the Storm snatched their first victory in the series, moving to 1-8 all-time against Lake Superior State. 

Looking Ahead

Lake Erie will look to stay hot as they take on another extremely formidable opponent in #25 Ferris State on Saturday, November 9th at 7 p.m. in Big Rapids, Michigan. Ferris State gave Michigan State a scare in their exhibition match last week, trailing by only five points with 15 minutes remaining. If the Storm think that knocking off the GLIAC favorites would be enough to shake the Bulldogs, that would be a grave mistake. Ferris State is extremely athletic team and will enter the match 2-1 on the season, fresh off of blowing out Northwood 85-58. Their sole loss came against nationally ranked #3 West Texas A&M in their first game of the season. 

The Storm host their first game on Tuesday, November 12th at 8 p.m. when Bryant & Stratton come to town. The first conference game isn't until December 3rd when Lake Erie travels down to Kentucky Wesleyan to square off against the preseason G-MAC favorites.