Login
Led by Nsikan Usen’s 16 points, Eagles win tight battle with WL Northern, 41-34
WHITE LAKE – Lakeland won a defensive struggle over Walled Lake Northern 41-34 Friday night in Lakes Valley Conference play.
The game had the feel of a neck-and-neck battle right from the start. The teams combined for just seven points in the entire first quarter – and three of those came on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Chase Carson to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead after the opening period.
The offenses did a bit better in the succeeding quarters, but neither team could sustain anything resembling a rhythm on offense for more than a couple of possessions. Walled Lake Northern led only once, and briefly, at 8-7 in the second quarter, but the Eagles scored the next six points to take a 13-8 lead, and the Knights trailed the rest of the way, though they always stayed close. Each team’s swarming, physical defense leant a frenetic yet grinding tone to the game where the offenses were consistently struggling to find open shots or to produce points.
“That’s how it always is in this Battle of Bogie Lake – a low-scoring, tightly-contested physical battle, and this one didn’t disappoint. That’s for sure,” Eagles head coach Ron Thompson said. “They’re going to do what they do. We’re going to do what we do. No surprises.”
But once the second half rolled around, 6-foot-5 senior Nsikan Usen got rolling, and the Eagles always had an answer whenever the Knights started to creep close on the scoreboard.
“I think he (Usen) is a hard guy to referee because he’s bigger, stronger than a lot of guys out there. I think he gets beat up everywhere he goes, but he did a really nice job of handling the pressure, handling the physicality and not complaining and getting things done,” Thompson said.
Usen led the field with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ethan Rowley finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while Hayden Cross tallied eight points as Lakeland spread out the scoring.
Walled Lake Northern was led by seven points from Stone Seyburn and six points from E. J. Milan. But they couldn’t sustain any kind of offense all night, and that kept the Eagles just out of reach even when the Knights were playing well defensively.
“We have to score if we want to win,” Knights head coach Ryan Negoshian said. “We kind of hang our hats on playing solid defense and getting after it, but offensively if you want to win, you have to score. That’s the name of the game. and we just can’t score.”
Photo gallery from Lakeland vs. Walled Lake Northern in LVC boys hoops action
Lakeland (9-6 overall, 6-4 LVC) continues conference play next Tuesday when it travels to South Lyon East to face the Cougars.
“I thought it was a great team game. I think everybody stepped up and did what they were supposed to do. Everybody knew their role and did it,” Thompson said. “I thought all the guys played really well.”
Walled Lake Northern (5-10 overall, 4-6 LVC) will try to snap a four-game losing streak when the Knights host South Lyon on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to get back to basics, to making shots, to catching the ball ready to score, to passing the ball quicker, to doing fundamental things that basketball teams need to do that we are not executing right now,” Negoshian said. “We have the ability to do it, which is the frustrating part. We have done it. We know we can do it. We’re just not doing it right now.”
