PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's basketball team shot 58.1% from the field and closed out its non-conference season and calendar year 2022 with a 109-80 victory over Cardinal Stritch University Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies showed no rust after the Christmas holiday and a 13-day layoff from games, making 18 of 31 shots in both halves in the easy win. Lakeland improved to 8-3 overall heading into a big Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game Tuesday night against conference-leading Concordia University Chicago.

The Muskies never trailed in the game and needed less than six minutes to build a double-digit lead. Lakeland made seven straight shots early and also hit 8 of its first 10 three-point shots, leading by as many as 19 points on two occasions in the first half and taking a 56-42 lead into halftime.

The Wolves (0-15 overall) hung around early in the second half and were as close as 13 on three occasions, the last time at 65-52 after a three-pointer by Stefan Popovic. The Muskies would follow with five quick points after a three-pointer by Cam Jaeger (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) and a fast break layup by Kai Buliox (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) to go ahead 70-52, and would push the lead to 20 at 83-63 when Travis Kohlmann (So.-Kiel, Wis.) hit a three with 9:52 left. Jaxson Dillon (Fr.-Menasha, Wis.) made a three-pointer to get Lakeland to 100 points and make it 101-69 with 4:02 left, and the lead would grow to as much as 33 in the final minutes.

Buliox scored a team-high 21 points and was heavily involved as the Muskies enjoyed a massive advantage at the free-throw line. Lakeland attempted 36 free throws and made 25, including Buliox hitting 13 of 20 from the stripe.

Caleb Fuller (Jr.-Oshkosh, Wis.) scored 18 points and added a game-high eight rebounds and Asanjai Hunter (Fr.-Racine, Wis.) made all seven of his field goal attempts and scored 16 points. Christian Knox (Sr.-Ypsilanti, Mich.) also added 16 points and Isaiah Hammond (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) scored nine points and added a career-high nine assists.

The Muskies finished making 36 of 62 shots, including 12 of 24 from three-point range. Lakeland also took advantage of 21 Stritch turnovers, turning them into 23 points.

The Wolves shot 46.4%, making 32 of 69 field goals, including 9 of 25 (36.0%) from three-point range. Stritch attempted just eight free throws, though, making seven. Gregory Wells led the visitors with 15 points.

Lakeland is will host Concordia Chicago in its 2023 debut Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Woltzen Gym.