The LaGrange College Men's Basketball team improved to 6-3 on the season, winning on Friday over Mississippi University for Women, 73-59. The Panthers hosted students from Clearview Elementary and Hillside Montessori, as the game tipped at noon.
The Panthers came out firing, scoring 10 points in the first 2:13, and a Bershard Edwards' three put LC up eight early. LaGrange let the lead slip, and a Gabe Cofield layup tied the game at 30 with three and a half minutes left in the half.
LC then went on a 12-4 scoring run to end the half, capped off by a Cooper Dolhancyk layup with six seconds remaining. He led the Panther bench scoring, dropping 11 points in just 11 minutes of play.
The LC lead hovered around 10-15 points throughout the first part of the second half, as Camerin Lyons hit a jumper with 8:38 left in the game to extend the Panther lead to 15.
MUW tried to make a late run. With 5:07 left they had cut the LC lead to eight, but it never got closer. LC pushed away, and a Zac Hill dunk with a minute to play pushed the lead to 73-57. MUW scored two final points and the Panthers claimed a 14-point victory.
Lyons led the Panther scoring with 18 on the night, going six of 14 from the field and only missing one free throw in six attempts. Edwards also contributed by scoring 13 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing out a team-high seven assists. Hill led the Panthers with 11 rebounds, five offensive, while also scoring eight points.
The Panthers saw 13 players hit the floor, with nine scoring. Freshmen Brodie Scott, Isaiah Pettigrew and Ford Barnes combined for 12 points, with Scott scoring all six of his points from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
The Panthers will be traveling to round out 2022, heading to Naples, Florida, to play Eastern Nazarene and Pacific Lutheran in the Naples Shootout this coming Monday and Tuesday. The year will conclude with LC playing Sewanee and Ogelthorpe in the Jack Berkshire Classic on December 29 and 30.
Story by Eli Rogers
