Men onto districts with national hopes

By Brodee Gillam

Sports Editor

The 18th-ranked LCC men's basketball team ended its regular season with a 79-68 victory against Mid Michigan CC at home on Wednesday, March 1.

The win pushed the Stars' record to 22-6 overall and to 15-3 in the MCCAA.

Before the game sophomores Ashton Leger, Claude Finley, Quae Furlow, Jacob Allen, Isaiah Green and Colin Jones were all honored for their final home game as Stars.

Jones was the star of the show against the Lakers, finishing with 30 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Green was the ice to Jones' fire, finishing with 19 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks. Green also intimidated many shots at the rim.

Green said the Stars' defense is always improving and it starts in practice.

"We talk to each other more than we did from the beginning of the season," Green said. "Our help-and-recover (defense) has gotten better and we have a period where we just stop teams for a number of minutes. In practice, all we talk about is help and recovering.

"You got to stop penetration, got to talk to each other, we got to help each other out. It's not about individuals, it's about the team now."

Freshman Rudy Thompson had the defensive assignment of guarding Lakers leading scorer Mikhail Myles. Thompson held Myles to 23 points on 23 attempts, making him uncomfortable all over the floor.

Thompson credited this to his team's overall defense.

"We pressured him to not let him stay in a rhythm or get many open shots," Thompson said. "As well as talking and making sure we played good help-side defense, so he couldn't get easy layups."

Even short-handed, with freshman Brandon Dingman out against the Lakers with a broken jaw, LCC still showed heart and energy throughout the whole game.

LCC Men's Head Coach Mike Ingram said his team has changed throughout the year, but is playing at a high level right now.

"The guys who came off the bench (earlier this season) have done well," Ingram said. "Rudy, Josh Horford, Brandon and even Ashton, those guys, they ripped off 12 or 13 wins in a row, without some guys.

"They play a little different but what they do ..,. (is) play really hard. And they do listen and they do compete."

LCC is scheduled to play Lake Michigan College on Tuesday, March 7 at home at 7 p.m.