The Lake County Lancers marched into Wright, and defeated the Rams 67-60, in a hard-fought physical game that went down to the wire.
3-point shooting was a huge emphasis for the Rams early on, as they were working the ball around the perimeter to get outside shots. In the first half, they made a total of five 3’s. Two of the biggest 3's of the half were made by shooting guard Payton Branch. Branch made one of his 3's coming off a screen at the top of the key, and on the second 3, he was wide open in the corner to drain the shot and bring the Rams to within two points.
Along with the solid 3-point shooting out of the gate, the Rams also did a good job of working the ball into the paint to get easy opportunities around the basket. Wright's center David Lucas showed that he was the most physical player on the court, constantly sealing off his defender, and backing him down in the post. In the first half, Lucas had eight points, with all his points coming from in the paint and at the free-throw line.
Lake County’s forward Randall Holm was the leader of the Lancers' offense, scoring six of the team’s first eight points. Throughout the first half, Holm was able to get to the lane consistently for easy layups, get to his spots from midrange, and push his team in transition.
3-point shooting continued to play a huge role for the Rams midway through the first half with Javaris Stfort, Bryson Yarbrough, and Tim Odeyungbo all adding a 3-pointer of their own.
After a back-and-forth start to the first half, the Lancers began to pull away towards the end, as they went on a 7-0 run to go up 29-24. Lake County’s scoring during this period all came from the free throw line, as they began to get very aggressive on the offensive end.
The Lancer’s run was put to a halt by yet another strong move in the post from David Lucas.
After a strong close to the first half, the Rams found themselves trailing the Lancers, 38-34.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, coach Thomas liked how his team came out saying, “we are at a place early in the season, chemistry-wise that is very good, I feel confident, just got to shore up some of the details”.
The Lancers played stifling defense to open the second half. Their strong defense limited the Rams to just four points in the first 10 minutes of the half, as they jumped out to a 50-36 lead. Turnovers killed the Rams and the momentum shifted entirely to Lake County.
Coach Thomas sensed this and called a timeout. After the timeout, the Rams went on a 6-0 run of their own cutting the lead to 50-42. Their run was filled with great ball movement, good play designs, and aggressive drives to the hoop that got them to the free-throw line. The team was also locked in defensively, limiting the lancer’s offense, and fighting back to get within four points as they trailed 55-51 with seven minutes left in the final half.
Wright fought all the way back and was able to tie the game at 56 a piece after Bryson Yarbrough was able to hit a 3-pointer. After all the hard work to tie the game, the Lancers were able to silence the crowd after guard Justin St. Louis made a 3 to take the lead 59-56. This clutch shot didn’t kill the Rams' momentum, as they played great defense down the stretch, first a huge block from Tim Odeyungbo, followed up by a forced 10-second violation that got the Rams the ball back with 4:20 left.
The Rams capitalized off the violation by converting an easy layup, which was then followed up by a turnover and layup from Wesley Woods. This put the Rams up 60-59, but the Lancers quickly tied the game at 60, after going one of two from the free throw line.
St. Louis made another clutch three down the stretch as he gave Lake County the lead with 1:50 left in the game. Despite strong efforts in the second half, the Rams couldn’t get past the 60-point mark as they fell to the Lancers 67-60 to open their season.
Coach Thomas said after the game that “it was not the outcome we wanted but it was still a very enjoyable game. This is a tough region, there are no nights off, College of Lake County came in here, fought and did a really good job, we must be ready every time we step on the floor.” Coach Thomas also said that he “hopes to continue to garner support and continue to put a product on the floor, that makes everyone at Wright proud to call themselves a Ram, and to build the atmosphere around the team.”
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