SLIPPERY ROCK, Pennsylvania -- The Lake Erie College men's basketball team hit the road once again for another non-conference game on Tuesday evening, emerging with a tightly contested 74-73 victory. It was a game of runs, as the Storm found themselves down by 15 in the first half before cutting the deficit to just one at the break. In the second half, there was another 15-point swing in which the Rock lost a nine-point lead and went down by six to the visiting Storm before ultimately closing out the game on top.
The loss marks the fourth straight for Lake Erie, as well as the third game in a row in which they had the ball at the end with a chance to win. Now sitting at 5-4 on the season, they will look to close 2025 on a high note with games on back-to-back Saturdays, with Malone coming to town on the 13th and Penn State DuBois on the 20th.
Game Recap
After a back-and-forth start that saw six lead changes, the Storm held a 16-15 lead after eight minutes of play. That's when the Rock went on a commanding 22-6 run, putting themselves up 37-22 with 6:19 left in the first half. In that six-minute stretch, Slippery Rock got to the free throw line eight times—making all eight—and went 2/3 from deep. However, the Storm weren't content to fold, slowly marching back and dominating the interior by scoring their final 16 points in the paint to enter halftime down just 43-42.
Out of the break, the home team went back up by nine, yet the Storm again found answers primarily by getting downhill, erasing their deficit with a 9-0 run and knotting the game at 53-apiece. At the midway point of the second half, Lake Erie held its largest lead of the night at 62-56. However, with seven minutes left, the Rock reclaimed a 67-65 advantage and never relinquished it, getting a stop on the final possession to seal the hard-fought win.
Analysis
Forcing 29 turnovers and losing is a tough pill to swallow, as that number almost always translates to a victory. However, that wasn't the case for the Storm tonight. Slippery Rock tied its program record for turnovers in a game (as far back as their online stat archive goes, dating to 2012–13) yet still came out on top. A major reason was Lake Erie's difficulty capitalizing on those mistakes, turning them into just 16 fast-break points compared to 25 for the Rock.
Despite committing an unusually high number of turnovers themselves, LEC still posted a clean 22-11 assist advantage, highlighting their ability to space the floor and create for one another at a high level.
Although the Rock shot just 3/13 from beyond the arc for 23.1%, the Storm didn't fare any better, going 5/25 for 20%. In the first five games (all wins), LEC shot 63/171 for a solid 36.8%. In the last four games (all losses), that number has dipped to 29/122, a 23.7% mark. A major swing factor lies with newcomer Gavin Welch—during the 5-0 stretch he went 20/35 (57.1%), but in the current 0-4 stretch he has shot just 6/25 (24.0%). For the Storm to be at their best, they rely on the junior transfer's ability to be lethal from deep. Even with the recent dip, Welch still leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.4 points nine games into the season.
In his first time starting consecutive games in his career, Griffin Turay delivered a game-high and career-high 16 points, going 8/15 from the field. Watch for the sophomore to continue getting his fair share of opportunities as the season progresses.
Slippery Rock did a good job contesting without fouling, sending LEC to the free throw line just 12 times. Only once last season across 29 games did the Storm shoot fewer than that. Comparatively, Lake Erie's physical style sent the Rock to the stripe often—29 attempts in total. That +17 attempt margin is the worst for LEC since the 2023–24 season (-19 vs. Northwood).
In his first time starting consecutive games in his career, Griffin Turay had a game-high and career-high 16 points tonight, going 8/15 on field goal attempts. Watch for the sophomore to continue getting his fair share of opportunities as the season progresses.
Looking Ahead
After just two home matchups in their first nine games of the season, the Storm will now play their next five at the Jerome T. Osborne Family & Athletic Wellness Center, beginning with Malone on Saturday, December 13th. The Pioneers are off to a hot start, going 6-1 overall and 2-0 in G-MAC play.
Malone is allowing the fewest points in the conference this season, holding opponents to just 56.6 points per game thanks to limiting teams to 36/24/65 shooting splits. Additionally, no team rebounds better than the Pioneers, who boast a conference-best +11.6 margin. They have three players averaging double figures, spearheaded by 6'3 junior guard Nic Williams, who has scored 12+ in every game. Their 6'8 center Emmanuel Oladeru leads the G-MAC in blocks (14) and field goal percentage (64.2%), while teammate Josiah Pierre leads the league in rebounding at 8.6 per game.
