Men's Basketball Falls In Final Seconds To Lake Superior State 83-81

OVERVIEW – LAKE SUPERIOR STATE

SCORE:  Lake Superior State Lakers 83, Northwood Timberwolves 81

RECORDS: Lake Superior State (16-9, 13-8 GLIAC), Northwood (5-25, 3-18 GLIAC)

LOCATION: Riepma Arena – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Lake Superior State stuns Northwood with seven consecutive points in final 42 seconds to win 83-81 Thursday night (February 23).

FIRST HALF

• The Lakers came out firing, scoring 18 of the first 23 points going up by 13 seven minutes in.
• A coinciding 11-3 run by the Timberwolves cut the lead down to five at the halfway point at 21-16.
• The next seven minutes, Northwood went on a 12-7 run to tie the game with three minutes left at 28. The Timberwolves took their first lead at 33-30 with 2:18 left, but eventually trailed LSSU 37-36 at the break.
• The Lakers shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-31), knocking down 58.3 percent of their three-point attempts (7-12).
• The Timberwolves made 40 percent of their overall shot attempts (12-30), including 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-17).

SECOND HALF

• Northwood came out with authority and nearly copied Lake Superior State's start in the first half, starting on a 15-3 run to lead by 11.
• An 18-6 run by the Lakers gave them a 58-57 lead with ten minutes to go.
• The lead for the Lakers extended to six with another 9-4 run with 7:52 left. The two teams would engage in multiple lead changes, with Northwood going on a 20-9 run to lead by five with 42 seconds left.
• However, Lake Superior State scored seven consecutive points after forcing two key turnovers, stunning the Timberwolves in the final seconds.
• Northwood shot much better than the first half, sinking 54.2 percent from the floor (13-24) and knocking down 44.4 percent of their three-point attempts (4-9).
• Lake Superior State shot 46.7 percent from the floor (14-30), hitting 43.8 percent of their three-point attempts (7-16).

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Lake Superior State .475 (29-61), Northwood .463 (25-54)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Lake Superior State .500 (14-28), Northwood .423 (11-26)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Lake Superior State .733 (11-15), Northwood .800 (20-25)
• REBOUNDS: Lake Superior State 30 (six offensive), Northwood 35 (seven offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Lake Superior State 15/13, Northwood 17/17

GAME NOTES

• Lake Superior State outscored Northwood off of turnovers 15-7 and off the bench 26-13. The Timberwolves outscored the Lakers in the paint 26-22, on second chance 10-3, and off the fast break 4-2.
• The two teams split the previous five matchups dating back to 2011.
• Nick Spitzley had his second straight game of setting a career high in points, scoring 31 tonight to break his previous record of 26 that lasted all of five days.

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Nick Spitzley: Career-high 31 points (5-7 on three-pointers), four rebounds, four assists
• Matt Crowl: 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block, one steal
• Sage DeMull: nine points, three rebounds, three assists, one block