Garrett Duffin (
Jr.-Princeton, Ill.) scored 21 points off the bench, part of a powerful offensive performance by the Lakeland University men's basketball team in a 109-63 rout of Rockford University Tuesday night in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game.
Duffin made 8 of 11 shots and led a bench that scored 57 points as the Muskies won their third straight game and moved to 10-5 overall this season. Lakeland also is now 7-4 in the NACC after scoring 100 points for the second time this season and putting up its largest point total since rolling up 114 points in a win over Concordia University Chicago on Sept. 15, 2015.
The Muskies shot a season-best 54.9% as a team (45 of 82) and topped 50% in both halves, including 51.2% in the first half when they blew out to a 53-26 halftime lead. Lakeland also drilled 15 of 32 shots from three-point range, with 10 different players hitting triples in the game.
The Muskies trailed 10-4 in the game's early stages, but quickly erased that with a 15-0 run over the next four minutes for a 19-10 lead. Lakeland then blew the game open over the final seven minutes of the half, outscoring the Regents 27-6 to turn a six-point lead into a 27-point bulge. Duffin scored 16 points in the first half, when he hit 6 of 8 shots, including 3 of 4 from three-point range.
Rockford never got closer than 24 points in the second half, as the Muskies shot 58.5% over the final 20 minutes (24-for-41) with numerous players getting involved. A total of 14 Lakeland players scored in the game.
Pat McDonald (
Jr.-Port Washington, Wis.) also scored 14 points, hitting 7 of 9 from the field, and added six assists.
Shakur Jinad (
So.-Chicago, Ill.) scored 12,
Joshuan McNeal (
Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) added 11 and
Corey Allen (
Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) added a career-high 10 points off the bench, hitting 4 of 6 from the field.
Lakeland shot 45-for-82 for the game and also committed just seven turnovers while forcing 24 turnovers by Rockford, which won the rebounding battle 48-38 but shot just 36.5% (27 of 74). Trae Blumhorst led the Regents with 14 points and added five assists.
The Muskies are on the road next when they travel to face Concordia University Wisconsin Saturday at 2 p.m. in Mequon.
