FOND DU LAC – Lakeland University finished the opening half with a flourish and cruised the rest of the way from there for an 83-60 win over Marian University Saturday afternoon in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference men's basketball play.
The Muskies went into halftime on a 35-9 blitz punctuated by a halfcourt shot at the buzzer and went on to complete a sweep of both games against the Sabres this season, with this second one easily Lakeland's most decisive victory of the season.
The Muskies (8-11 overall, 6-8 NACC) posted easily their most decisive victory of the season, leading by as many as 34 points in the second half. The dominant performance was a surprise in a long-running series where the previous seven most recent meetings all were decided by 10 points or less, including three of the games going into overtime.
Marian (4-14 overall, 3-11 NACC) held a three-point lead at 16-13 just past the midway point of the first half after a three-pointer by Matt Shaw. Lakeland would score the next 12 points, though, with a three-pointer by
Zach Hasenstein (
So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) making it 25-16, and that was only the start of the Muskies' tear.
Lakeland kept pushing the lead further right up to halftime, when
Garrett Duffin (
Sr.-Princeton, Ill.) hit a long shot from past halfcourt to make it 48-25 at intermission. The lead never slipped below 20 points again and went as high as 78-44 before the Muskies cooled off over the final seven minutes.
Carlos Campos (
Jr.-Janesville, Wis.) scored 18 points and
Shakur Jinad (
Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) added 17 points plus 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Hasenstein and
Pat McDonald (
Sr.-Port Washington, Wis.) also added 10 points each, with Hasenstein pacing the team with four assists and McDonald adding four steals.
Lakeland shot 49.1% for the game, making 28 of 57 field goals including 18 of 32 in the first half (56.3%). The Muskies also made 18 of 25 from the free throw line (72.0%).
Tyrese Pinson scored 14 points and added a game-high five assists to lead Marian, which shot 42.4% (25 of 59) and committed 19 turnovers.
The Muskies are back home Tuesday when they host Concordia University Chicago for a 7 p.m. tip at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
