HAMMOND, Ind. - The Purdue Northwest men's basketball team dropped its home opener Friday afternoon against Lake Superior State by a final score of 75-64. The two teams will meet at John Friend Court again tomorrow for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS
"Give Lake State credit, because they were clearly the better team today," coach Roberts said. "We've got some issues on both ends that have hurt us more than once this season, and we need to keep working to figure them out. We've got great dudes in our locker room, and I'm looking forward to our response tomorrow."

STAT LEADERS
Jyrus Freels led the Pride with a season-high 25 points on 10-of-12 (83%) shooting. The senior from Evansville, Indiana also grabbed six boards and had three steals. Gregory Boyle and Caleb Zurliene each chipped in with eight points while Xavier Allison dished out a team-high five assists. Vincent Miszkiewicz led the team with nine rebounds.
 

Too easy for @calebzurliene. ?? pic.twitter.com/DL6eXlOYX8

— PNW Pride (@PNWathletics) January 15, 2021

LSSU's Kemon Bassett, who won GLIAC Player of the Week this week, led the visitors with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Bassett went 7 for 11 at the free-throw line. Three others reached double figures in the scoring column for the Lakers including David Wren (16), Justin Fischer (15) and Nigel Colvin (11). Fischer nearly missed a double-double with nine boards and he drew nine fouls in the contest.

GAME SUMMARY
Lake Superior State jumped out to a six-point lead, remaining in front for nearly the entire contest, as PNW was forced to play from behind early and often.

The Pride battled poor shooting, particularly at the free-throw line, and turnovers all game. PNW went just 4 of 12 (33%) at the line in the first half and finished the contest shooting 8 of 17 (47%) from the charity stripe. Both teams were sloppy with the ball and still working through early-season miscues as both sides logged 21 turnovers, but LSSU outscored PNW 29-19 in points off of those takeaways.

With 13 minutes left in the first half, the Lakers' Bassett gave the visitors a 16-10 lead but Boyle countered for PNW with a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 run. Although it was short-lived, that gave the Pride their first lead of the game as a steal and jumper by Freels on the offensive end put the Pride in front , 17-10.
 

Down six at the break, 38-32. Jyrus Freels leading the way with 15 points. @PnwBasketball pic.twitter.com/xVpPRRJHDY

— PNW Pride (@PNWathletics) January 15, 2021

Despite the poor play offensively and the Lakers shooting nearly 60 percent for the half, PNW kept within striking distance during the rest of the opening period.

The deficit stayed in single digits as the Pride only trailed by six at the break with the score, 38-32. Freels had the hot hand at halftime with 15 of his 25 points coming in the first half.

The Lakers were able to pull ahead in the second half and led by double digits for the majority of the stanza. The lead swelled to as much as 20 with five minutes remaining.

PNW flashed a late spark when back-to-back three's by Anthony Irvin and Logan Phillips capped a 13-2 run, trimming the deficit back down to single digits to make the score 73-64 with 1:22 to play. But, it was too little too late for the Black & Gold.

KEY TEAM STATS
PNW recorded a season-high 13 assists on 25 made field goals, despite shooting 40 percent overall in the game. The Pride finished 6 of 20 (30%) from three-point range.

The Pride also notched a season-high 12 steals on the defensive end. Freels led with a career-high three steals while Allison, Zurliene and Irvin each registered a pair of steals.

LSSU held the advantage in rebounding, 41-35, and outscored PNW 44-32 in points in the paint. The Lakers shot 49 percent overall from the floor and went 14 of 21 (67%) at the free-throw line.

NEXT UP
PNW and LSSU will take the court for the rematch tomorrow at 1 p.m. CST. The Pride will look to begin the season 2-2 for the third straight year.