Lansing holds on against GOCC men

Glen Oaks gave host Lansing all it could handle Thursday in a MCCAA Western Conference men's basketball contest that was up for grabs until late in the game. But the Stars pieced together a couple crucial runs to pull out a 109-99 victory. 

It certainly helped Lansing that last year's MCCAA Western Conference Freshman of the Year Zander Woodruff poured in a game-high 29 points. What wasn't expected was a 28-point effort by reserve Lamont Green-Torbert. 

The win kept the Stars in a three-way race atop the conference standings with Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan at 6-2. Glen Oaks dropped to 1-7 in league play and 9-13 overall. 

Darius Styles and Amauri Moore led a shorthanded Vikings squad with 19 points apiece. Keri Foster got the start and reinforced coach Sam Waniewski's decision with an 18-point outburst. Kelvion Brown produced 15 and Akin Smith put up 13 for the Vikings. 

Glen Oaks led 20-17 midway through the first half. The teams traded leads for the remainder of the period and the Stars held a 46-43 advantage when the halftime horn sounded. 

Tied up at 48-48 early in the second half on a pair of Moore free throws before Brown knocked down a jumper to tie it up at 50-50. LCC went on an 8-0 run and would extend the lead to 69-55 by the 11-minute mark. 

A Stamps 3-pointer and a pair of foul shots by Moore cut the deficit to single digits. Styles Stamps would connect on back-to-back triples with under nine minutes to go to get to within five, but the Stars pushed the lead to 14 over the next four minutes of play. 

It was enough of a cushion to hold off the Vikings the rest of the way. 

Each team shot over 80 percent from the foul line. However, Lansing ended up outscoring the Vikings 35-25 at the stripe for the game. 

Marlon Gaitan and Joreim Lomax both chipped in six points, and Jaiden Stamps added three for GOCC.