This past weekend, November 15th and 16th, Bud Cooper Gymnasium was home to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference vs. Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament. The Laker men were hoping to better the last three appearances in the tournament when they went 0-2.  The team took on Lewis University Flyers on Saturday and Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday.  Both days offered great basketball with games ending in overtime.

Saturday’s game was a hard fought game from beginning to end. The Lakers trailed by five heading into the second half when the team pulled together to come back leading 67-66 with 32 seconds left in regulation. However, the Lakers sent one of the Flyers to the free throw line where they tied the game 67-67 sending it into overtime. The Lakers were ahead 72-70 at 3:13 in overtime but were outscored seven to one during the last three minutes of overtime, giving the Flyers a 77-73 victory.

According to the Lakers’ website, Tim VanOudheusden led the Lakers with 22 points along with eight rebounds.  Scott Perkins was next in line with 19 points and five assists. Ryan Kuhl tallied 11 points while Mark Morse added 10.

Sunday’s match against the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers was a near replay of Saturday but with a better outcome. Going into the locker room, the Lakers once again trailed, 33-32.  The Lakers started the second half on fire, working their way to a double digit lead right away. But, the fire seemed to go out in the last few minutes of the half as the Rangers outscored the Lakers eight. Some confusion rose when the end of regulation came. The Rangers thought they had won the game due to a ‘three-pointer’ hit by one of their players at the buzzer. However, when the officials spoke, the game was tied at 89-89 as the Ranger player had stepped on the three point line, according to the officials.

Once again the Lakers headed to overtime, this time hoping for a better outcome then the night before.  VanOudheusden and Morse made each made big baskets to give the Lakers the lead in overtime.  The Rangers came back to tie the game 87-87. Kuhl made the go ahead basket giving the Lakers an 89-87 lead. Once the Rangers messed up their inbounds pass with just seconds remains, the Lakers never looked back. Morse made two more free throws giving the Lakers a 91-89 win, their first win in the GLIAC vs. GLVC tournament in three years. Once again, VanOudheusden led the Lakers with 28. Morse added 22 with teammate Kuhl scoring 16.  Nine points were added by both Garrett Konuszewski and Micah Hudson.

Morse, a senior this year, is pleased with the things he’s seen this season. “We’ve had a really good start to the season this year. We played down at Michigan State which was a great learning experience for us as a team. Playing in a hostile environment in front of that many people really helped us play better in pressure situations.” Morse has high hopes for the rest of the season and for his fellow seniors. “We are extremely excited about the rest of the season and have high expectations as a team. Being a senior dominated team we know its our last chance to have a great year that we can always remember. I think it’s starting to sink in that after its over this year then that’s it and thinking about that is helping me as well as the other seniors play our hardest every time we step on the floor.”

The Lakers, now 1-2, were coming off a tough match up against MSU last Monday where they lost 112-69 in an exhibition game.

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