Joey Burris (Sr.-Kiel, Wis.) scored 33 points and the Lakeland College men's basketball team turned back a stiff challenge by Silver Lake College for a 100-86 win Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Muskies and Lakers lit up the scoreboard, with both teams shooting at least 50%. Lakeland got the upper hand in the non-conference game against the athletic Lakers, though, and improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Burris did much of the heavy lifting offensively, hitting 8 of 13 from the field, including 6 of 10 from three-point range. He also converted 11 of 15 free throw attempts in the second-biggest scoring game of his college career, surpassed only by the 36 points he scored in the Muskies' triple-overtime win over Lake Forest (Ill.) in the 2012-13 season opener.
Burris's big scoring night was needed as the Muskies received a good battle from the Lakers (3-7) from Manitowoc, who built an eight-point lead in the early going. Lakeland bounced back and took the lead when Stan McKenzie (Sr.-Racine, Wis.) converted a layup making it 18-17 at 12:31 of the first half, and would never trail again.
The Muskies did anything but run off and hide, though, as Silver Lake continued to hang around. Lakeland led by 14 late in the first half, but the Lakers trimmed the deficit to seven by halftime, trailing 49-42.
Lakeland pushed the margin back out to 14 early in the second half, as McKenzie again scored inside to make it 74-60 with 12:15 to play, but Silver Lake came back again. The Lakers got as close as five on a three-pointer by Eric Roby with making it 79-74 with 6:10 left, and the visitors were still down just six with under four minutes to go until the Muskies finished on the contest on a 16-8 run.
McKenzie also scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Zach Van Engen (Jr.-Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) added 12 points off the bench. Lakeland shot 31 of 62 from the field (50.0%), including 11 of 26 from three-point range (42.3%) and 27 of 35 (77.1%) from the foul line.
Silver Lake shot even better, hitting 34 of 60 shots (56.7%). John Duke scored 22 points and added nine rebounds and six assists, and all five Laker starters finished in double figures.
The Muskies are next in action on Monday when they travel to face Northland International University at 7 p.m. in Dunbar, Wis.