Laker men outlast Eagles in overtime
SAULT STE. MARIE - Senior guard Garrett Konuszewski, who missed two games recently due to an injury, made three of four free throws and grabbed a key rebound to secure the Lake Superior State men's basketball team's 67-64 overtime victory over Ashland Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
LSSU (4-4 overall, 3-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and Ashland (3-4 overall, 1-3 GLIAC) were tied 56-56 at the end of regulation. Laker senior Scott Perkins made the first of two free throws with 10 seconds left in regulation to tie it, but he missed the go-ahead shot. Ashland's Kale Richardson missed a game-winning attempt with three seconds left.
The game, physical from start to finish, was tied 62-62 with 2:10 left in overtime and knotted at 64-64 with 57 seconds to go.
LSSU guard Micah Hudson rebounded an Ashland miss with 28 seconds remaining. Konuszewski eventually went to the line when the Eagles were forced to foul. He made the first free throw and crashed the boards to rebound his missed second attempt. Konuszewski was fouled again and made both free throws to build the three-point cushion with two seconds left.
Freshman Derek Kinney scored 10 points in the first half and led LSSU with 16 points and seven rebounds. Perkins finished with 14 points, and Hudson had 13. Konuszewski totaled 11 points. Kyle Hunt contributed five points, six assists and seven rebounds as the Lakers out-rebounded Ashland, 41-37.
LSSU shot 41 percent from the field, including 5-of-18 from three-point range. The Lakers made 12-of-20 free throws.
Evan Yates totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead Ashland, which shot 42.1 percent from the field and 4-of-14 from three-point range. The Eagles were 12-of-19 at the free-throw line.
LSSU is within a half game of first-place Ferris State in the GLIAC North Division standings heading into Saturday's home game against Tiffin. The Lakers and Dragons meet at 3 p.m.
