Coming off two straight overtime losses, the Kentucky Wesleyan Men’s Basketball team left nothing to chance on Saturday, taking down Lake Erie 73-61 in G-MAC action. Wesleyan held the Storm to just 18 points in the first half en-route to the 12 point victory.
With the win the Panthers move to 10-8 (5-5 G-MAC) while the Storm fall to 8-5 (2-4 G-MAC).
KWC jumped out to an 11-6 lead early with buckets from five different Panthers. After LEC cut to to 11-3, Edward Jones Jr. capped off a 6-0 Wesleyan run with a three to extend the lead to 17-9. The Panthers would push the lead to 11 a few minutes later off a three from Jordan Roland. Antonio Thomas gave Wesleyan it’s final bucket of the half on a driving layup and Wesleyan led 30-18 after one.
Wesleyan jumped on the Storm early in the second, as Ben Sisson scored four straight points early to extend KWC’s lead to 36-21 just two minutes into the half. A three pointer by Wyatt Battaile with 15 minutes left in the game gave Wesleyan a comfortable 16 point lead over the Storm. With LEC charging back to within 10 with 5:44 left to play, Sisson made a layup and Battaile hit two straight jumpers to put the game out of reach. The Panthers cruised to the finish line for the 73-61 win.
Roland, Thomas and Battaile each dropped in 15 points for the Panthers. Battaile led the way with 11 rebounds and Thomas notched five assists.
For the game, Wesleyan shot 29-60 (48.3%) and 3-15 (20%) from behind the arc. Lake Erie shot 24-60 (40%) and 7-22 (31.8%) from three. Wesleyan hit six more free throws than the Storm, going 12-15 from the charity stripe, compared to 6-12 for LEC.
The Panthers head to Findlay next Thursday for a rematch with the Oilers. Tipoff is set for 7:45 p.m. CT.
