SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's basketball team (22-5, 13-4 GLIAC) used a strong second half to pull away for an emphatic 80-54 victory over the Rangers of Wisconsin-Parkside (14-11, 11-6 GLIAC) on Thursday.

Hunter Soper (Lexington, Mich.) got things started by drilling a three, but the Rangers were letting it fly themselves as both teams battled early on. The Lakers responded with an 8-0 run that was capped off by Soper taking advantage of a bad pass and throwing it down in transition, and Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) found Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) all alone under the basket for another jam to start swinging the momentum. Both teams would then trade blow after blow, always seeming to have an answer for one another, including back-to-back threes from Edmondson, but the Lakers managed to just push ahead to take a four point lead into the halftime break.

The Lakers came out swinging in the second half with a three from Andy Soma (Traverse City, Mich.) to lead off an 11-2 run to start the half. Perkins would then get to work inside as the Lakers continued to blitz Parkside, extending the lead to 19. Tyler Jamison (Port Huron, Mich.) drove in for an and-one to kick off another Laker run, this time by a mark of 15-0, and he would go on to close out the run with a steal and a dunk on the other end as LSSU suddenly found themselves ahead 77-48. The Lakers would then slow down and take their foot off the accelerator as they cruised to their 22nd victory on the season. 

Edmondson led the Lakers in scoring with 17 points on the night. Soma and Perkins each finished with 13 points while Adam Harakow (Edmonton, Alta.) and Devin Womack (Ypsilanti, Mich.) also finished in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Soper continued to fill the stat sheet with 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals. 

The Lakers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 22 when they face the Purdue Northwest Pride with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.