Muskie Men Hold On For Tough Road Win
Dec. 2, 2003
In a game of rallies the Lakeland College Men's Basketball Team held off a furious comeback from North Central College to escape with a hard-fought 75-73 road victory Tuesday night in Naperville, IL. The win improved Lakeland to 2-3 overall while North Central dropped to 2-3.

The Cardinals led 40-28 at halftime mostly due to by closing with an 11-3 run. North Central took a 53-42 lead with 11 minutes remaining after a three-pointer. However, Lakeland rallied behind guard Cory Nickel and went on a game changing 18-1 run, taking a 60-54 lead after a Nickel layup.

North Central later trailed 72-65 with 28 seconds left but didn't give up. Two three-pointers closed the gap to 73-71 with 14 ticks on the clock. After an exchange of free throws North Central stole the ensuing inbounds pass but a desperation shot from the corner hit the top of the backboard and the Muskies held on for the exciting win.

Nickel led Lakeland with 24 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Hiir chipped in 12 points and Danny Jansson 10.

The foul-plagued affair saw Lakeland knock down a whopping 28 of 43 free throw attempts and had 3 Muskies foul out on a total of 31 fouls. North Central nailed 22 of 38 free throws and had 30 fouls, including eight players with three or more.

Both teams were cold from the floor with the Muskies hitting 22 of 56 shots and the Cardinals just 22 of 62. North Central managed to make 7 of 16 treys to stay in the game.

Lakeland's next game is this Saturday when they open up conference play against Concordia at 3pm.