PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Asanjai Hunter (Jr.-Racine, Wis.) and Cliff McCray (Sr.-Madison, Wis.) combined for 45 points and the Lakeland University men's basketball team rode hot shooting to an 84-72 win over Marian University Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Hunter scored 24 points and McCray added 21 and the Muskies shot 55.4% in their best win of the season yet. Lakeland handed the Sabres just their third loss in 15 games while also putting together back-to-back wins for the first time this season, improving to 5-10 overall and 4-4 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

The Muskies led for more than 34 minutes of the game and had the answers every time Marian (12-3 overall, 5-3 NACC) made a move. That included the biggest one in the second half, when Lakeland pulled away for good with a deciding 21-6 run.

The Sabres had slowly come back from a nine-point halftime deficit and took their largest lead at 53-50 on a layup by Hunter Krolak with 11 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game. The Muskies quickly answered with 11 of the next 13 points, including three three-pointers by Emmitt Konieczny (Fr.-Marshfield, Wis.), the second breaking a 55-55 tie and the third putting Lakeland ahead 61-55 with 8:59 left.

The spurt continued with Hunter completing a three-point play to push the lead to 64-57, and then McCray hit a three-pointer, Hunter scored on a fast break layup and McCray scored on another fast break to give the Muskies a 71-59 lead with 6:17 left.

Marian briefly got back within 71-63 and was on the attack again with just under five minutes left after a steal by Brandon Adorno, but Andrew Ayeni threw a pass to the corner that McCray stole and then called timeout before falling out of bounds. Jaxson Dillon (Jr.-Menasha, Wis.) then hit a three-pointer against the Sabres zone to pump the lead back up to 11, and Marian never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Lakeland finished the game making 31 of 56 field goals, including 10 of 22 (45.5%) from three-point range, and its shooting percentage was the best by any team against Marian so far this season. The Muskies' 84 points also were the most scored by an opponent in regulation against the Sabres this season.

Hunter scored 24 points while making 9 of 15 from the field and 5 of 6 free throws, including scoring 15 of his points in the first half. McCray also scored 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including three three-pointers, plus eight rebounds. Mrotek also scored 15 points off the bench.

Lakeland also held Marian to 40.0% shooting, with the Sabres hitting 26 of 65 field goals, including just 4 of 22 (18.2%) from three-point range. Marian missed its final 10 three-point attempts, including four in the final two minutes. Alex Vassilakis led the Sabres with 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Muskies are on the road for their next game, traveling to face Edgewood College Saturday at 1 p.m. in Madison.