Story and photos by Dominic Baima
The Lakeland Lakers came out on top in a thrilling matchup with Wabash Valley College that Lake Land won 86-83.
Wabash got off to a quick start scoring 12 points before the Lakers sophomore Dailliss Cox connected with the basket on a free-throw to put the Lakers on the board. Cox led the Lakers in scoring with 20 points in the game.
The Lakers didn’t waste much time to take a 19-18 lead. After keeping the score close and tied throughout the rest of the first half, the Lakers pulled ahead with a 35-32 lead going into halftime.
The Lakers came out strong in the second half holding onto the lead for the first six minutes before Wabash tied the score at 57 apiece.
Lake Land pulled ahead a minute later and never looked back.
Wabash didn’t give up easily, coming within three points to make for an exciting final minute where each team struggled to connect with the basket.
Lake Land coach Julian Larry liked the teamwork his team had on the court in Wednesday’s win.
“We are coming together as a team,” Larry said. “We average 12 assists a game and we had 24 assists, so we doubled our assist numbers and that makes a big difference in a ballgame for us.”
Up Next: The Lakers face Illinois College JV on Dec. 6 at Laker Field House.
| 1 | 2 | F | |
| Lakeland | 44 | 42 | 86 |
| Wabash | 41 | 42 | 83 |
Lakers Scoring: Davis 4 3-3 14, Close 2 0-0 10, Walker 2 0-0 10, Eversole 0 0-0 0, Scales 0 0-0 0, Stubblefield 2 0-0 4, Camacho 4 4-4 12, Kujuhovic 1 5-1 3, Wermert 0 0-0 0, Cox 7 5-3 20, Neal 2 0-0 4, Burdick 0 0-0 0, Wallace 0 0-0 0, Hussein 4 2-1 9. 3-pointers – Davis 1, Close 2, Walker 2, Cox 1.
Coles County Sports 