Jerome T. Osborn Athletic Center - Painesville, Ohio.
Lake Erie entered the matchup with momentum after a big out-of-conference win against the Ferris State Bulldogs. The Storm headed home to Painesville for the first home matchup against the 0-2 D'Youville Saints.
First Half Highlights
The Storm came out swinging with buckets coming from A. Williams and G. Welch. However, the Saints weren't going down without a fight and kept it close with a big three-pointer coming from E. Warren. Lake Erie started to rally late in the first half, after a handful of turnovers from the Saints, Lake Erie scored 10 unanswered points, forcing a full timeout by D'Youville.
Lake Erie entered halftime with all of the momentum swinging their way. After three-pointers from G. Welch and T. Bishko, the Storm bench lit up with energy, as coach A. Stark quickly called another timeout from the D'Youville bench.
First Half Stats
At the end of the first half, the score was Lake Erie 44, D'Youville 26. Lake Erie ended the first half with a respectable 17 points coming off the bench. Even with E. Warren's efforts, the Saints' bench fell short, with zero points of their own. The leading scorers heading into the half were Lake Erie's G. Welch with 13 pts, and D'Youville's E. Warren with 14 pts.
Second Half Highlights
The Jerome T. Osborn Center was electric as the Storm came out of the locker room to start the second half. Lake Erie maintained the same energy they closed the first half with, with layups coming from K. Bloom and R. Leonard to put them up by 20 early in the half. D'Youville's K. Thompson came out of the half firing, knocking down 3 straight three-pointers and showing that D'Youville wasn't quite done yet. Later in the second half, Lake Erie's R. Leonard stayed hot, with another 6 points, adding on to their big lead, with little response from the Saints. With 2:56 left in the second half, coach K. Conley called in some of his deeper bench players, solidifying the victory for the Storm with a final score of 92-76.
Lake Erie moves to 3-0, T-1st in the G-MAC, while D'Youville falls to 0-3 to start the season.
Final Stats
Lake Erie Stats: 46% FG, 35% 3-PT, 62.5% FT.
Leading Scorer: G. Welch - 15 Pts, 5 Reb, 0 Assists.
D'Youville Stats: 47.5% FG, 50% 3-PT, 57.1% FT.
Leading Scorer: E. Warren - 21 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Assists.