by Derick Denny (Sr.-Oneida, Wis.) scored 27 points and Joey Burris(Sr.-Kiel, Wis.) went over the 1,000-point mark for his career as the Lakeland College men’s basketball team continued one of the best starts in school history with a 93-85 win over Concordia University Chicago Thursday night at the Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies had four players score in double figures and needed all of them against a pesky Concordia team. Lakeland improved to 9-1 overall (6-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference), tying the 1966-67 and 1967-68 Muskie teams for the best 10-game start in school history.
Denny made 9 of 13 field goals, including 6 of 10 from three-point range, and notched his scoring total in just 23 minutes due to foul trouble. He scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, hitting five of his three-pointers and 7 of 8 shots total over the final 20 minutes.
Burris finished with 22 points and became the 40th player in Lakeland men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points for a career. The 6-foot-3 senior guard came into the game needing 17 points for the mark, and he reached it with the second of two free throws with 14:24 left in the game.
Despite all the offensive highlights, the outcome of the game was in doubt into the game’s final minutes. The Muskies led by 11 early in the second half and again by 10 with 5:55 to play after two free throws by Tanner Hackl (Jr.-West De Pere, Wis.), but the Cougars (2-6 overall, 0-5 NACC) scored five straight points to cut the Lakeland lead down to 81-76.
Denny responded on the next possession with his sixth three-pointer of the game, and he followed with a layup just over a minute later to make it 87-78. Concordia had one final gasp in the last minute, getting within 88-83 with 32 seconds to play before the Muskies closed it out at the free throw line.
Lakeland gained control of the game with a 17-5 run to close the second half to take a 45-34 lead into halftime. The contest was close prior to that, with the two sides trading the lead eight times and tied on six other occasions.
Along with Denny and Burris, Hackl also finished with 11 points and Zach Van Engen (Jr.-Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) added 10 points as well as seven assists. The Muskies shot 50.0% for the game (30 of 60) and drained 11 of 23 three-point attempts (47.8%).
Tino Vazquez led Concordia with 17 points, while Brandon Stinson had an outstanding all-around game with 15 points, 13 rebounds and a game-high eight assists. The Cougars shot even better from the field than Lakeland, hitting 35 of 69 shot attempts (50.7%), but shot just 5 of 19 from three-point range and 10 of 19 from the foul line. Concordia also committed 16 turnovers to just nine for the Muskies.
Lakeland is now off until after Christmas, when the Muskies travel to Defiance, Ohio, for the Defiance College Blue & Gold Tournament. The Muskies open the two-day, four-team tournament on Monday, Dec. 29 against Heidelberg (Ohio) University at 4 p.m. Central time.
