Defensive dominance stretches Stars streak to 10 games

By Brodee Gillam

Sports Editor

The Stars are rolling.

After an undefeated month of January, the LCC men's basketball team started the new month on the right foot with a 92-77 road victory over Mid Michigan CC on Feb. 1.

The win extended LCC's winning streak to 10 games.

LCC's (13th ranked in the NJCAA Division II rankings) emergence on the defensive end in the past few games is promising, to say the least. The Stars have held their opponents to less than 85 points in the last four victories, with the Mid Michigan win being as impressive as the rest.

LCC gave Lakers' star guard Mikhail Myles trouble all night, holding him to 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting with five turnovers.

Stars sophomore forward Quae Furlow, who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, said LCC was vocal on defense against Mid Michigan.

"We (were) in his head," Furlow said. "We made him more uncomfortable than I've ever seen him. He was losing the ball, (he) couldn't shoot it … We played great team defense on him."

After making a midseason adjustment, Head Coach Mike Ingram and his coaching staff has found a lineup that causes trouble for opposing teams on both ends.

The Stars have been playing Furlow as a stretch-four, bringing other bigs off the bench, and playing three or four more shooters around him. This creates more space on the offensive end, creating driving lanes to the basket for freshmen guard Don Quall Jackson and Furlow.

LCC Assistant Coach Joe Fox said the shooting of sophomore Claude Finley has been a key factor in this lineups success.

"Claude Finley started shooting the ball really well from the shooting guard position, so we kept him there," Fox said. "Quae's been shooting the ball well too, but he's been really good inside.

"People throw tall guys at him and you can move him outside and he can drive past them. A lot of times they are guarding him with smaller guys and he can just take them to the rack."

Furlow said his rhythm has played a huge role in his scoring output over the last few games.

"People play good (defense) but lately I feel like I have just been in my zone," Furlow said. "I have been able to get the shots that I want. Coach (has had) me working on a lot of post moves; I feel like they've been paying off … I feel like the basket is big right now, shots (have) just been falling."

The Stars were scheduled to play on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Jackson College. LCC's next home game is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.