By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Kirtland, Ohio---The No. 16 Express men's basketball team erased a nine-point deficit in the game's final four minutes to capture a 76-72 win over Lakeland Community College tonight.
The Express had trailed by as many as 19 late in the first half, and they were also down 15 at halftime.
With the win, the Express (16-4, 3-0 OCCAC) move into sole possession of first place in the conference. Lakeland fell to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in OCCAC play.
Lakeland's Rasheed Howard made a lay-up to put his team up 70-61 with 3:37 left, but the Express went on a 10-0 over the next 2:03 to take a 71-70 lead.
During that run, Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) converted a 3-point play to get things going. Tony Boykins (Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo, Mich.) followed with a lay-up and a short jumper in the paint to pull within two. Following a missed 3-pointer from Lakeland's Marcus Williams, Andy Bachman (North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Express a 71-70 lead.
Michael Davidson then scored on a lay-up to give Lakeland the lead back briefly with 1:18 left. John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) answered with a jumper to give the Express the lead back for good.
Following Murry's jumper, Lakeland came out of a timeout and missed a 3-pointer, grabbed an offensive board and then were called for traveling. Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) was then fouled and converted both free throws for a 75-72 lead.
After a Malik Billingsley missed 3-pointer for Lakeland, Bachman converted 1-for-2 at the line to seal the game. Williams missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Lakeland.
For the second straight game, Gill produced in a big way. In the previous game, he nearly had a triple-double while tying to school record for most single game blocks to lead the Express to an upset of No. 3 Cincinnati State.
Tonight, Gill had 16 points, 21 rebounds (11 offensive) and four blocks, which gave him a tie for the single game rebounding record also held by James Kelly (21 vs Lakeland on Feb. 5, 2012) and Eric Seaman (21 vs Clark Technical College on Feb. 16, 1985).
Murry had a team-high 19 points, along with seven rebounds, two steals and one block. Boykins added 16 points and eight rebounds. Lindsey had a team-high five assists, although the Express had a season-low seven assists as a team.
Williams led Lakeland in scoring with 16, while Howard added 12. Kenneth Evans (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Davidson (10 points) also contributed in double figure scoring.
Both teams combined to shoot 5-for-31 (16.1 percent) from 3-point range, with the Express going 2-for-13 (15.4 percent). Additionally, the two teams combined to shoot 43-for-67 (64.2 percent) from the foul line, including a 24-for-39 (61.5 percent) foul line performance for the Express.
The Express also out-rebounded Lakeland 54-39, produced more second chance points (24-17) and points off turnovers (14-11).
The Express will host Edison Community College next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on BCSN.