CRESTVIEW HILLS, Kentucky -- The Lake Erie men's basketball team competed against the Saints of Thomas More on Thursday night, walking out with an impressive 92-86 road victory. The Storm trailed by double digits in the first half but fought back to cut their deficit to just 43-41 at the break. The second half was tightly contested throughout, but Lake Erie captured the lead with eight minutes remaining and never budged an inch, maintaining a narrow 1–6 point advantage the rest of the way.
Lake Erie earns their sixth win in a row, improving to an astounding 18-7 overall and 12-5 in the G-MAC. With three regular-season games remaining, the Storm are in a great position to reach 20 wins for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
Game Recap
The Storm led 3-2 after the first handful of possessions, but for the remainder of the half, found themselves trailing the Saints. A 7-7 tie quickly became a 20-9 deficit, as Lake Erie went over five and a half minutes scoring just two points. After digging an early hole, the Storm clawed their way back to within 22-19 thanks to Jake Leibacher's scoring burst.
With three minutes left before halftime, however, Thomas More had pushed the lead to 40-29. The final minutes before the break proved crucial, as Lake Erie scored on eight of their final 10 possessions to enter halftime down just 43-41, a demoralizing finish for the Saints after an otherwise excellent half of basketball.
A Gio Moore three-pointer with 17:04 remaining gave the Storm their first lead since the opening minutes. After five lead changes over the next 10 minutes, another Moore bucket reclaimed a 71-70 Lake Erie advantage, one they narrowly held for the final eight minutes of play.
Analysis
After starting a remarkable 0-for-13 from deep, the Storm shooters responded in a big way, closing the first half 3-for-7 and knocking down 6-of-13 in the second half. Despite finishing just 9-for-33 (27.3%) from three — their worst mark in the last 10 games — they still found other ways to win.
After going 0-for-7 in the first half with just two points from the free throw line, Amari Williams exploded for 18 second-half points, driving the comeback by drawing fouls and putting constant pressure on the Saints' defense. The junior finished 11-for-15 from the stripe and now averages 15.1 points per game, seventh-best in the G-MAC.
Jake Leibacher and Gio Moore were instrumental off the bench, helping the Storm get their offense on track in the first half. Both finished with 18 points. Leibacher went 3-for-3 from deep, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and tied a team season high with five steals. Moore shot 7-for-11 overall and 2-for-5 from three, a valuable skill for a big man that creates space in the paint for drivers.
While recording just 10 assists — their fewest of the season — Lake Erie was extremely careful with the ball, committing only three turnovers all night. It's been over a decade since that last happened, as the Storm also had just three turnovers against Hillsdale in December 2015. Conversely, the Saints turned it over 17 times, their most against a G-MAC opponent all season. The Storm's 12 steals were also the most Thomas More has allowed all year.
The Saints recorded zero fast-break points all night. Zero. While the Saints have struggled in this department all season, zero points in transition is frankly unfathomable. Credit goes to the Storm for protecting the ball and hustling back defensively after missed shots.
Thomas More did receive their strongest bench production of the season. Against Malone and Walsh earlier this month, non-starters combined for just five total points across those two games. On Thursday, 6'7 Jashaun Pouncy played a career-high 34 minutes and scored a career-high 21 points, one more than teammate Kai Simpson, who leads the G-MAC with 18.6 points per game. Daniel Allen, usually a starter, came off the bench and added 15 points as well.
Looking Ahead
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Storm stay on the road to battle Malone on Saturday, visit Cedarville on Thursday, February 26, and then return to Painesville to conclude the regular season against Ohio Dominican on February 28.
Earlier this season, Lake Erie earned an 87-65 win over the Pioneers in their first conference victory of the year and their second-largest margin of victory over a G-MAC opponent in the last five seasons. Key factors in that matchup included a dominant offensive rebounding advantage (21-4), Malone shooting just 2-for-12 from three, and a 20-point performance from Amari Williams, including 5-of-7 from deep.
Malone boasts the best defense in the conference, holding opponents to just 41.8% shooting and 65.6 points per game, both G-MAC lows. They are a strong rebounding team (+4.9 margin) but struggle offensively, ranking among the bottom three in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, and three-pointers made. They also carry a -2.28 turnover margin due largely to low assist numbers and a slow pace of play.
The Pioneers are led by 6'8 senior center Emmanuel Oladeru, who ranks 28th in conference scoring, third in rebounding, third in field goal percentage, and second in blocks. Junior Nic Williams also stands out, leading the team in scoring (13.7), threes (58), assists (63), and steals (24).
