AURORA, Ill. – Lakeland University drilled 17 three-pointers and held on through some anxious moments late to defeat Aurora University 90-85 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference men's basketball tilt Saturday afternoon.
The Muskies just missed a school record for triples in a game, with their 17 threes one off the mark of 18 set in 2008 against Wisconsin Lutheran. The performance was still enough for Lakeland to snap an eight-game losing streak and improve to 7-10 this year and 5-7 in the NACC.
Lakeland shot 53.3% (32 of 60) for the game and was a red-hot 16 of 24 from three-point range at one point. The Muskies buried 10 threes in the first half alone and added seven more in the second half, six in the first 10 minutes as they built a 17-point lead with just over nine minutes to play.
Aurora (8-9 overall, 6-6 NACC) still had a run left in it, at first chipping away and eventually getting dangerously close in the final minutes. The Spartans cut the gap to three with 1 minute, 16 seconds left after Jesse Young split two free throws and then got within two when Garrett Hoffman's three-pointer made it 87-85 with 48 seconds left.
Aurora would not score again, though, missing three three-pointers in the final seconds and also committing a turnover. Lakeland made three free throws late, with
Pat McDonald (
Sr.-Port Washington, Wis.) converting both with 13 seconds left for the final five-point margin.
Carlos Campos (
Jr.-Janesville, Wis.) scored 17 points, making 5 of 8 from long distance, and he led a group of six players to score in double figures.
Shakur Jinad (
Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench and scored 15, hitting 6 of 7 shots from the field and all three from deep, while
Jequan Pegeese (
So.-Beloit, Wis.) added 11 and also made all three of his three-point tries.
Zach Hasenstein (
So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and
Eric Nygaard (
Sr.-Plymouth, Wis.) also scored 14 points each and McDonald added 10.
Aurora shot 47.1% (32 of 68) and hit 8 of 27 from three-point territory (29.6%). Hoffman scored 25 points off the bench to lead the Spartans.
Lakeland returns to play Wednesday when it travels to face Wisconsin Lutheran at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee.
