Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State men's basketball played hard but fell at home on Monday afternoon, losing to Lake Erie (Ohio) 76-67 to close out 2018 at Waller Gymnasium.
Lake Erie took an early lead, getting a pair of free throws and a lay-in by David Dunnigan to go up 4-1. Shawnee State rallied back through two Tim Biakapia (JR/Germantown, Maryland) free throws and a Tamal Watkins (JR/Columbus, Ohio) floater to go up 5-4; Brogan Scott answered Watkins' shot on the other end, and EJ Onu (SO/Cleveland, Ohio) would make one of two free throws to tie the game at 6-6 through the first five minutes.
The Storm would go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. Harrison Riggs got a lay-in to start the run, followed by another easy bucket from Erron James in transition. Kevin Peterson and Mitch Loomis would hit back-to-back shots to make the lead eight points, and Peterson capped the run to put the Storm up 16-6.
Lake Erie nursed that lead to 20-10, but SSU would chip away to tie the game. Chris Byrd (JR/Columbus, Ohio) made a three after receiving a skip pass from Justin Johnson (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio) in the right corner to tie the game at 22-22, forcing a Lake Erie timeout. Scott again responded to give LEC back the lead, but Byrd again got Shawnee State tied up; Peterson would respond seconds later, but Watkins tied the game back up, and SSU would take the lead back on two more Biakapia free throws. The rest of the half would be back-and-forth, and Juwan Grant (SR/Baltimore, Maryland)'s free throw late in the half would see Lake Erie hold a narrow 37-36 lead on Shawnee State at halftime.
Shawnee State came out swinging in the second half, immediately taking the lead through a Watkins bucket. Justin Johnson extended the lead with a lay-in moments later. Gabe Kynard would get his first points of the day with 17:03 to go, tying the game at 42-42 on a three, followed by another made basket for Loomis in transition. Grant hit a shot to respond 30 second later, and EJ Onu would throw down a big dunk to give SSU a 46-44 lead.
SSU's hold on the lead was tenuous, and Lake Erie would eventually storm back into the lead. With the game tied at 52-52, Kynard would score to put Lake Erie back on top. That lead would eventually grow out to nine points with 6:25 to go. Shawnee State chipped away again, with Johnson hitting in the paint to get the lead to four points, but that would be as close as Shawnee State would get. Lake Erie would hold the Bears off, and hit double bonus free throws down the stretch to claim a 76-67 win over the Bears.
Shawnee State shot 42.1% from the field, but were only 2-18 from three for an 11.1% day from behind the arc. Lake Erie shot 39.7% from the field, but benefitted from 17 SSU turnovers and 13 offensive rebounds to take 16 more shots than Shawnee State. Lake Erie outrebounded Shawnee State 38-36 on the afternoon.
Tamal Watkins had 19 points to lead Shawnee State. Gio Jackson (JR/Federal Way, Washington) had 15 points off the bench in his first game of the season, while Juwan Grant added 13 points.
Erron James had a game-high 21 points to lead Lake Erie. Gabe Kynard added 11 and Brogan Scott had 10 for the Storm.
The loss drops Shawnee State to 7-5 on the season. Lake Erie improved to 7-6 and snapped a three-game losing streak. The Storm also took a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series over Shawnee State.
SSU men's basketball kick off Mid-South Conference play on Saturday, January 5 when they take on No. 16 Pikeville at Waller Gymnasium. Tipoff in Portsmouth is set for 4:00pm.
