Lakers play host to NMU and MTU this week

SAULT STE. MARIE – Lake Superior State men’s basketball coach Steve Hettinga empathizes with Northern Michigan first-year coach Doug Lewis. Both coaches have lost their share of close games.

The LSSU men’s team (13-8 overall, 7-7 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), which meets Northern Michigan at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium, is coming off two heart-breaking home losses to Ferris State and Grand Valley. NMU (7-14 overall, 2-12 GLIAC) is 1-9 in its last 10 games, but three of the Wildcats’ last four losses were by single digits.

“We’ll need the same kind of effort that we had last week, with the guys still playing together,” Hettinga said. “It’s like it is on ESPN. It’s rivalry week. We know Northern is playing its best basketball. They’ve lost some close games to good teams. We know they’re playing well, and we’ll have to be ready to play our best game against them.”

The LSSU men’s and women’s basketball teams play NMU in a double-header Thursday. LSSU and Michigan Tech tip off at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday as part of Laker Basketball Alumni Weekend. All four games will be broadcast live on Talkradio 1400.

Last week, the LSSU men’s team lost 62-59 to Ferris State and 69-63 in overtime to Grand Valley State, which are the top two teams in the GLIAC North Division. The Lakers narrowed the scoring gap from their respective 18-point and 38-point setbacks at FSU and GVSU in January.

“The guys played their hearts out, and I’m proud of them,” said Hettinga, whose team enjoyed leads in both games last week. “They followed the scouting reports, worked extremely hard and fell a little bit short. We did not play well in either game at Ferris or Grand Valley, and came back and showed a lot of resiliency. We’re a different team than we were three weeks ago. I’m hoping we’re starting to hit our stride as we near the end of the regular season.”

Hettinga said that the difference between the two showings against the Bulldogs and Lakers was LSSU’s defense.

“Last week at home we played extremely well defensively,” he continued. “We were very much together and played great team defense. We rose to the challenge against two great offensive teams. We gave maximum effort every possession and played as hard as we have all year.”

LSSU edged Michigan Tech 62-61 and Northern Michigan 79-73 on the road in mid-January. The MTU men (11-10 overall, 6-8 GLIAC) trail the Lakers by only one game in the GLIAC standings, but have had more lop-sided losses than the Wildcats. One exception is the Huskies’ 93-82 overtime victory over Hillsdale (17-3). LSSU lost by five to the Chargers at home.

The LSSU women are 14-6 overall and 11-3 in the GLIAC heading into Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. game against NMU (9-12 overall, 4-10 GLIAC). The Lakers, who are coming off a five-point loss to Grand Valley State, trail first-place Michigan Tech (18-2 overall, 13-1 GLIAC) by two games, but are still the No. 2 team in the overall conference standings, which means they have a shot at hosting a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal game. MTU is second behind Quincy (17-1), and LSSU is third in the NCAA Midwest Region poll. The top eight regional seeds receive NCAA Tournament bids.

Earlier this season, LSSU beat NMU 62-58 and lost at eighth-ranked MTU, 69-66. Senior guard Emily Joseph averaged 20 points and 3.5 assists per game against the Huskies and Wildcats. She is the GLIAC’s top scorer at 19.1 ppg in league play.