NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- The Lake Erie men's basketball team competed in the Midwest Regional Quarterfinals on Saturday at noon against Michigan Tech. The three-seeded, #16 Huskies were able to put the clamps on the explosive Storm offense in the second half. After leading for much of the first, LEC entered halftime down 46-45 and were never able to reclaim the advantage. In the second half, they were limited to just 28 points on 28/13/53 shooting splits, yet were still in it until the final buzzer, trailing by just four points with two minutes remaining. It came down to making timely shots and free throws down the stretch, an area where Lake Erie has been money all year, but couldn't convert while the Huskies cashed in.
Lake Erie finishes the season 23-9, marking their most wins and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006-07. They have so much to be proud of, and even higher expectations entering next year.
Game Recap
Lake Erie started the game on fire from deep, as Kai Bloom, Alanas Castillo, Gio Moore, and Jake Leibacher all contributed to a 4/4 start from beyond the arc, yet, concerningly, still found themselves trailing 15-14 after the first five minutes had passed. However, a 9-0 LEC run, primarily by the bench unit, quickly put them up by eight points. Over the next four minutes though, the Huskies were able to knot the game back at 25-apiece and even went up by five. As they have all season, however, the Storm rushed back, taking what looked to be a 45-43 lead into the break, but three-time All-Region selection and the active Division II career points leader Marcus Tomashek buried his fifth three-pointer of the half to beat the buzzer and put the Huskies up 46-45.
Out of the break, Michigan Tech slowly built their lead. With 10 minutes left between being sent home and advancing to the Round of 32, Lake Erie found itself down 65-56, their biggest deficit of the game to that point, as their shot-making simply wasn't there and the Huskies' offense was proving incredibly difficult to contain. The Storm were 5/20 from the field, while their opponent was 6/10. More so than that, Lake Erie sent them to the line for nine free throws compared to just one themselves.
While they struggled to generate missed shots, the Storm stayed competitive by applying pressure that began forcing turnovers, even if it was also getting them into early foul trouble. Turnovers seemed like the only way they were getting stops, and that is how the comeback started.
The Storm would cut their deficit to just 71-68 with just under five minutes left to go, holding Michigan Tech to six points over a nearly seven-minute stretch. This was the break that Lake Erie needed, as the Huskies went 2/6 from the field, 2/4 from the stripe, and had three turnovers during this span. On the flip side, the Storm offense began to find its rhythm attacking downhill, drawing fouls, and converting at the line, going 7/7 from the stripe.
Going scoreless in their next two possessions, the Storm would fall back down 75-68, but back-to-back buckets by Kai Bloom and Gio Moore kept them in it, down 76-72 with under two minutes to go. However, Michigan Tech scored on all four of their final possessions, as the Storm resorted to fouling but didn't get much help from misses by the Huskies and couldn't hit any clutch shots themselves to swing the score in their direction. The Huskies pushed the margin to a game-high 11 late, and Lake Erie ultimately fell by a final score of 83-73.
Analysis
Despite taking 23 more field goal attempts than the Huskies tonight, both teams finished with the same number of makes. Lake Erie went 25/67 from the field (37.3%), whereas Michigan Tech finished 25/44 (56.8%). The difference ultimately came down to efficiency and free throws. Over the final 3:32 of the game, Lake Erie went just 1/6 from the line, while Michigan Tech converted 8/10 to close it out.
Turnovers were the Storm's best opportunity to stay within striking distance, and that is exactly why they led for much of the first half. Lake Erie won the turnover battle 12-4 in the opening period, helping offset their struggles to contain Marcus Tomashek. In the second half, they remained disruptive, forcing seven turnovers while allowing only three of their own, but their lackluster shooting from every area of the floor proved too much to overcome.
Another key factor came on the glass. Lake Erie grabbed just eight offensive rebounds despite 42 missed shots, marking their fourth single-digit offensive rebounding performance of the season. Against high-level opponents, the Storm's usual advantage in second-chance opportunities was largely neutralized.
Marcus Tomashek proved to be as advertised, as the 6'6 senior recorded his seventh 30-point game of the season. The game became particularly interesting when he picked up his fourth foul with 4:51 remaining and the Huskies leading just 71-68. Michigan Tech strategically substituted him offense-for-defense to minimize fouling risk, and he ultimately never fouled out, finishing 1/1 from the field and 4/4 from the free throw line over the final minutes.
Freshman guard Jesse Napgezek also played a major role in the Huskies' victory, recording a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds. The Storm struggled to stay in front of the 6'4 guard and cleanly contest his drives, as he went to the free throw line 18 times and converted 14.
Season Recap
For as successful as the Storm were this season, their identity was rarely built around forcing missed shots. Lake Erie allowed the highest opponent field goal percentage in the G-MAC at 48.8%, while also giving up a conference-high 81.4 points per game this season.
Instead, their success came from creating chaos.
Lake Erie's relentless full-court pressure produced the most turnovers forced in G-MAC history with 582. Their 18.2 opponent turnovers per game matched the mark they reached last season, the second-highest in conference history behind only Salem International in 2014-15.
Those extra possessions added up. The Storm attempted 392 more total shots than their opponents this season, including 403 more three-pointers. On average, Lake Erie generated more than 12 additional shot attempts per game than its opponent.
Their pace and pressure also separated them from the rest of the conference. Lake Erie finished the season with 221 more field goal attempts than any other team in the G-MAC and 238 more three-point attempts than the next-closest team.
However, that style also came with tradeoffs. Storm opponents attempted 827 free throws this season, by far the most in the conference and 248 more than the next-highest team, as the pressure-heavy system often resulted in foul trouble.
Another major source of extra possessions came on the offensive glass. Lake Erie's 449 offensive rebounds set the G-MAC single-season record, while their 14.0 per game was the highest mark in the conference in eight years.
Despite being an elite offensive rebounding team, the Storm finished just eighth in the conference in total rebounding with a +0.9 margin. In their nine losses this season, they were out-rebounded eight times and finished with a -62 margin. In their 23 wins, however, they out-rebounded opponents in 18 games and finished +92.
Even with disastrous shooting efficiency, the Storm offense remained historically productive. Lake Erie averaged 87.8 points per game this season, the highest mark in the conference since Kentucky Wesleyan averaged 91.6 in 2016-17. The Storm also finished the season with 588 assists and 347 steals, both G-MAC single-season records.
The year featured several memorable offensive performances. Lake Erie scored 132 points against Penn State DuBois, shattering a program scoring record they had set earlier this season when they scored 126 against Mansfield. In that same game against the Nittany Lions, the Storm set the G-MAC single-game record with 27 steals. Trace Bishko and Gavin Welch also each tied the program record for most three-pointers made in a single game with eight.
The Storm's historic campaign set a new benchmark for the program moving forward, and Coach Conley, the entire staff, athletic department, families, school, and Painesville community are incredibly proud of the buy-in, hard work, and resilience this team showed all season.
