Men’s Hoops Escapes With 80-79 Win

Southfield, Mich – The Lawrence Technological University men’s basketball team hosted Eureka College on Friday night. After a slow start in the first half, the team picked it up in the second half to escape by a final score of 80-79.

Carter Frantz had a team-high 18 points and four rebounds. Brandon Beavers finished with 14 points, six assists, and three steals. Gunnar Gustafson earned a double-double, ending up with 14 points and 12 boards. Andrew Rinn came off the bench to pinch in 11 of his own.

Gustafson and Frantz started off the game with a layup and three-pointer, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead.

In the next six minutes of action, both teams would trade baskets on both ends.

A couple of Beavers’ free throws and an Isaiah Cumberland layup made it 16-14 right before LTU called a timeout.

Out of the timeout, both teams could not buy a basket, going scoreless for the next two minutes.

A Peyton McCubbin three-pointer made it 20-16 with 10:46 left in the first half.

Frantz’s layup with under eight minutes to go cut the lead to two.

An Ian Milsteadt layup and a Logan Dorethy jumper extended the Red Devils lead to 32-25.

Frantz converted on another layup, and Alek Ivanovic followed up with a deep three of his own, making it 34-32.

LTU entered the locker room down 39-32.

The Blue Devils shot the ball 12-of-32 (37.5%) from the field, 4-of-19 (21.1%) from deep, and 4-of-5 (80.0%) from the line.

LTU jumped out to an early 9-0 run right out of the locker room to regain the lead 41-39, leading to a Eureka timeout.

A Beavers’ contested layup, and a Sanna Sisawo corner three, made it 48-47.

At the 12-minute mark, Sisawo and Gustafson helped extend the lead to four.

Blake Lund would nail a three-pointer to make it 58-54 right before a Blue Devils timeout.

The biggest lead of the game, came from a Rinn three-ball, increasing the edge to 68-59.

Doherty made a layup, and Charlie Mckinty knocked down a three to diminish the lead to three with 6:51 remaining.

Frantz nailed a three to make it 80-74 with under two minutes left in the game.

After a made three-pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions, the Red Devils cut the deficit to one, 80-79, with 44 seconds to play. LTU missed a jumper the next trip down, giving Eureka a chance to take the lead with 28 seconds left. With time winding down, McKinty drove to the rim but was called for an offensive foul with .04 seconds remaining. LTU inbounded the ball successfully to escape with the 80-79 victory.

LTU shot the ball 31-of-67 (46.3%) from the field, 11-of-34 (32.4%) from three, and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the free-throw line.

The next Blue Devils (9-5) game is on Wednesday, December 29th when they play Brescia University at Oakland City University for the Dunn Hospitality Group Classic. This game will tip-off at 4 PM.