SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The No. 16 Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's basketball team came away with a gritty 53-49 win over the No. 4 Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) in a defensive battle on Tuesday.

Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) opened up the scoring with a jumper around the basket. The Bulldogs were able to jump ahead with a 7-0 run, but Nino Carter-Smith (Warren, Mich.) stole the ball away and took it all the way to the rack as the Lakers battled back to knot up the score. Both teams would then dig in defensively, forcing one another to earn every single point, but a pair of dunks from Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Adam Harakow (Edmonton, Alta.) game the Lakers the momentum they needed to take the lead going into the halftime break. 

The Lakers would start to pull ahead early in the second half, leading by as many as eight points after a three from Hunter Soper (Lexington, Mich.), but Duluth kept hanging around. The Bulldogs managed to grind their way back to within two, but the Lakers responded with a pair of fast break baskets, including a jam from Harakow to ignite the crowd as LSSU held on to knock off No. 4 UMD.

Harakow posted a game-high 14 points with Edmondson not far behind with 13 of his own. Meanwhile, Soper, the two-time reigning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, once again proved himself on that end of the floor with 4 steals, 2 blocks, and 9 rebounds. 

The Lakers return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 3 when they open GLIAC play by traveling to face No. 9 Ferris State.