Lakers hope to build upon last week's lessons

SAULT STE. MARIE – Last week’s six-point men's basketball loss to Ferris State and 12-point victory over Grand Valley State clearly showed what can happen when a team doesn’t compete for a full 40 minutes – and when it does.

Lake Superior State proved last Saturday that it can sustain an attack for a complete game. The Lakers need to repeat that effort when they play host to Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leader Michigan Tech at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.

“I thought we turned the page after that loss (to Ferris State) and played much more physically (against Grand Valley State),” LSSU men's basketball coach Steve Hettinga said during this week’s podcast on www.lssulakers.com. “We executed well and were tough mentally, and carried it out for a full 40 minutes. We saw that before in stretches, but obviously didn’t carry it over a full 40 minutes…Kudos to our players for believing in what we’re doing. They all said that it’s now their expectation from here on out. Hopefully it will carry over to the end of March when we’re done playing.”

In addition to playing host to MTU, the Laker men (7-6 overall, 2-4 GLIAC) play Northern Michigan at 3 p.m. Saturday in Cooper Gym. The Laker women (5-8 overall, 1-5 GLIAC) face the Huskies at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and the Wildcats at 1 p.m. Saturday. Three of the four games will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1400 AM. Thursday’s women’s game will air on Radio Soo 1230 AM due to a scheduling conflict.

Heading into last week, Michigan Tech (7-6 overall, 5-1 GLIAC), GVSU and FSU were tied for first place in the GLIAC North Division men’s basketball standings. LSSU and Saginaw Valley State broke up that tie with Saturday’s victories over the GVSU Lakers and Bulldogs, respectively. The Huskies now sit alone in first place, but parity abounds in the North Division. Northern Michigan (5-7 overall, 2-4 GLIAC), which is coming off a six-point loss to MTU, is tied with LSSU and SVSU for fifth place.

Michigan Tech leads the GLIAC in scoring defense (57.3 ppg), field-goal percentage (.507), FG percentage defense (.384), and rebound margin (+7.2 rpg). MTU junior Ali Haidar, a 6-7, 140-pound forward, is the GLIAC’s top scorer and rebounder, averaging 20.8 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. NMU freshman guard Haki Stampley is just ahead of LSSU’s senior guard Kyle Hunt in scoring. Stampley is ranked fifth in the GLIAC at 17.8 ppg, while Hunt is sixth at 17.0. Stampley averages a league-leading 2.7 three-point field goals per game.

“We have a lot of different guys who are capable of scoring 15 or more points per game,” Hettinga said. “All of our losses have really come down to a couple plays. Looking at our record and what could have been, you have to keep the faith in what you are doing. You have to live by faith and not by sight, and hope we are doing the right things.”

The Michigan Tech women (9-3 overall, 4-2 GLIAC) are in unfamiliar territory. Due to back-to-back losses to GVSU and FSU in mid December, the defending GLIAC champion Huskies trail the Bulldogs by one game in the North Division standings. NMU (6-7 overall, 2-4 GLIAC) is contending for a top-three division finish.

“They don’t necessarily have one individual star player, but are very disciplined in what they do offensively and defensively,” LSSU women’s coach Justin Rees said of the Huskies during his coaches show. “They go right to their spots and don’t make a lot of mistakes. They don’t beat themselves. We’ll have to stretch our offense and hopefully do some things to make them uncomfortable.”

Rees added that the Lakers must prepare for NMU’s zone defense and slow-down tactics. He said that the Lakers, who struggled offensively during last week’s loss to Ferris State and broke down defensively against Grand Valley State, will regroup and look to put together a complete game this week.