A new championship banner graces the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. And Lake Superior State's Men's Basketball players from the 2024-25 season received their championship rings on Saturday, in honor of their run to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament's Elite Eight in March.

Then the current Laker basketball team blew away Lawrence Tech in LSSU's home opener, 93-56.

"I thought we won this game the right way," Laker head coach Steve Hettinga told News Talk 1400 after the game. "The score was indicative of how hard our guys played. I thought we played really well together. I looked at the stat sheet for 30 seconds and the rebound margin we had and our assist-to-turnover ratio both ways was great."

The Lakers (3-3, 0-0 GLIAC) hammered the Blue Devils (6-3, 2-1 WHAC) on the glass. From Laker misses, LSSU hit 35 of 74 shots and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to LTU's 26 defensive rebounds, a phenomenal rebounding margin. The Lakers allowed just four offensive rebounds by the Blue Devils. The Lakers also passed for 22 assists to just seven turnovers, while forcing 22 turnovers the other way. 

Hettinga said, "Overall, the team effort was great, especially coming off of Thanksgiving with a half-day prep. Great execution by our team."

Omar Suleiman devastated the LTU defense, shooting 8-for-12 with 22 points to lead all scorers. He also shot an incredible 6-of-8 from three. On the season, he's shot 49.4% from the floor, 42.9% from deep, and has taken slightly more than half of his 81 shots from behind the long line. The redshirt sophomore has burst on to the GLIAC scene as a prime time player.

"He's a really good player," said Hettinga. "Our guys got him the ball in the right spots, and he took timely shots that gave us some separation there. Major contributions from everybody. I thought Nino [Carter-Smith] played another great game as our floor general. Marcus Watson, Jr. got a chance to get out there. I thought 'Big C' - Kendall Smith - in the second half did some really good things. And it's nice to see a senior like Drew Hess knock down some threes to get his confidence going as we go into league play, too.

Hess hit three of his six three-point attempts, scoring 11 points off the bench. Carter-Smith doled out five assists, and Kendall Smith scored eight points for LSSU.

Michael Afrakoff led Lawrence Tech in scoring, the only Blue Devils player to hit double figures.

The Lakers wrapped up a tremendous week, with a 99-87 win over #9 Gannon on Wednesday signaling this year's team as another force to be reckoned with in the GLIAC. While LSSU looks ahead, it thrilled the players, staff and fans to see members of last season's historic run and several notable alumni at Saturday's game.

Hettinga said, "I see Tim VanOudheusden from our first championship team in 2009. It's great to see him in the house. Then to have Tyson Edmondson here with Blake Cassidy. We certainly missed Big Perk [Kingsley Perkins], Dev [Devon Womack], Hunter Soper, Andy Soma, and Adam Harakow. Those guys who were here, we really played for them today and we're really happy with the effort."
 
LSSU hits the road to open GLIAC play next week. Thursday, Laker Basketball plays its first doubleheader of the season, a GLIAC showdown with Grand Valley State. The women's game begins at 6:00 PM, with the men's game following at 8:00 PM. Then, the Lakers face Davenport in a doubleheader on Saturday. Watch every GLIAC game, home and away on FloSports, the official home of the GLIAC. Register online and begin watching today.