The Lakers traveled 5 hours to take on Oakland City University in two games for the weekend. The Lakers came in hot averaging 94.3 ppg in their last 4 games, but Oakland City Might Oaks were hot in their own right coming into the game 16-2 and had eight straight games. The game started off back and forth as the Lakers and Mighty Oaks were back and forth through the first 10 minutes the score leaned to the Mighty Oaks favor 16-11. After the under 8 media timeout the Mighty Oaks hit the Lakers with a quick 10-0 run to push the lead to 16. The Lakers kept hanging around though and was able to close the gap to 10 thanks to Jordan Gorman sinking a big three point basket while getting fouled with only one second remaining. The Lakers were very sloppy though in the first half turning it over 13 times in the first half, the Lakers only average 15 turnovers per game. The Mighty Oaks capitalized on the Lakers misfortune to get 13 points off turnovers in the first half. In the second half the Lakers started slow and the Mighty Oaks attacked the mismatches they had to push the lead to 18. The Lakers found their energy with pressure and was able to turn the Mighty Oaks over three straight times and cut the lead to 12, but then the Lakers fouled Logan Worthington as he was finishing a layup and the lead would push back to 15. The Lakers were unable to cut the lead closer than 12 the remaining of the game. The Lakers were led by Isaac Clay's 18 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals and Jordan Gorman's 13 points, 3 assists, and 4 assists.

Inside the Box Score:

• The Mighty Oaks big 3 combined for 75 of the 85 points and 55 of their 59 shot attempts
• Foul Differential: the Lakers were called for 23 fouls compared to the Mighty Oaks being called for only 12 fouls
• Hustle Points: the Lakers only had a mere 19 points off turnovers and 0 second chance points, while the Mighty Oaks had 24 points off turnovers and 13 second chance points
• In the Lakers previous eight games they got up 83.8 shots per game, in today's game they got up only a mere 65 shots

What Coach Says:

Coach Richard Westerlund said this about the game, "Oakland City is always a tough place to play. We had a lot of tough calls go against us today, but ultimately we have to focus on what we can control. We did not do the things that we are really good at today. Oakland City controlled the game with their tempo and I give them a lot of credit they know who they want to get the ball to and they get those three guys the shots. They attacked Jordan and Isaac all day whenever we had one of them on their two bigger wings. I think the difference in the game was the fact we did not get on the offensive boards the way we typically do. We create so much offense on the boards, and today we had 0 second chance points tonight. Oakland City forced us to play a lot slower than we wanted to and tomorrow we need to make sure the tempo is in our favor." On their big 3, "Their big three does a good job. They know their strengths and Coach Sandifar does a good job putting those three guys in situations they can thrive in." What needs to be done tomorrow to get the win, "We have to control the tempo. We are tweaking our gameplan slightly to adjust, we have to make their depth a factor. We need to get into their bench, and we need to be who we are. We aren't a team that wants to play slow. I expect us to respond very well on Sunday."

Who's Next:

The Lakers will take on Oakland City University again on Sunday February 11th. Tip-off schedueld for 4:00p EST.