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Muskies pick up win over Cougars, 84-69

The Lakeland men's basketball team snapped their three game losing streak with a 84-69 win over Concordia University Chicago on Tuesday night.

"We're back in the same position that we've been in for a lot of games and we found a way to win," said Lakeland head coach Kyle Brumett. "We're not going to take steps forward as a team until we get that part figured out (winning). I don't ever want to take winning for granted. Winning is good."

The Muskies (9-9, 7-5 NAC) went on a 29-5 run to open the first 10 minutes of the first half of the game. The Cougars (3-16, 2-10 NAC) then closed half with a 10-0 run, but Lakeland went into the locker room with the 40-22 advantage. The Muskies opened the second half on 11-1 run. The Cougars would come back to within 12 points, but were unable to regain the lead.

"Those guys did a great job in the first half and we had enough guys make enough plays to win the second half," said Brumett. "The difference tonight was that we didn't get out-rebounded, we made our free-throws and didn't turn over the ball a lot. It's those three things every time that are going to make us or break us."

The Muskies were solid going 18-21 from the charity line and shooting 47 percent for the game.

"Aaron (Regal) stepped up and went six-for-six from the line, but it was the other guys that I thought made the difference," said Brumett. "We usually have one guy make a few, and it's usually (Matt) Rogers. I told them tonight before the game that going one for two isn't good. (Kris) Saberlich goes two for two, Shane (Grube) goes two for two, Phil (Sontag) goes two for two and Dave (Hoerres) goes four for five. It's those guys that only shoot a few a game that go 0 for two or one for two that make a difference. It's not a one or two point game when you make them. That's the difference. We did better handling the ball."

Four Muskies scored in double-digits on the evening. Junior Aaron Regal paced the Muskies with a game-high 20 points and five assists. Junior Kris Saiberlich had 17 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Matt Rogers added 15 points and eight rebounds for Lakeland. Junior Danny Ehnert also contributed with 10 points and six rebounds.

"Kris is playing as well as well he has all year," said Brumett. "He's back to the level he has played in previous years. He looks like an all-conference player out there and that's what we need him to do. Matt and Kris, even in the last three losses, have played really well and their great play continued today. Aaron and Danny stepped up.

"We got contributions from a lot of difference guys, and when we have that we have success. Tyrone (Coleman) had five rebounds, and Dave Hoerres had eight points on his birthday. Phil (Sontag) played solid defensively. It was a good team win and we're going to need the same on Thursday."

Ryan Ward led the Cougars with 17 points, while Ryan Young added 16 points. Bobby Smith also scored in double-digits with 12 points, while Bryan Ganek had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

"Our next game is against Rockford and we beat them pretty handily last time," said Regal. "We need to keep executing our offense and it's going to be hard for them to stop us in the post. Our problem lately is transition defense, so we need to work on that and we should be ok."

The Muskies will be at home again on Thursday for a NAC game against the Regents. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

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