Led by its four seniors, the LaGrange men's basketball team raced past Huntingdon 97-78 on Thursday night in Mariotti Gym. The Panthers held Senior Night for Lincoln Anderson, Kyle Brown, Julian Cameron, and Ronald Youngblood to start the season rather than at the end.

The quartet accounted for 73 of LC's points. Youngblood led the way with a career and game-high 23 points. Ander"son had a double-double of 20 poiints and a game-high 10 rebounds. Cameron finished with 18 points and Brown added 12. 

Coach Kendal Wallace:
"These four seniors have gone through everything. They've sat on the bench, they've had winning seasons, they've had losing seasons and they still remember that. They came back this season to accomplish something. The goal is to win a championship this season.

"Youngblood, Anderson, Cameron, and Brown they're brothers and that's what we're trying to produce here. Not only that these are great young men off the court. I can't say enough good things about them.

"With the adversity and obstacles that we've overcome and been through, with half the team having had the virus and trying to keep them apart from the others who have not had the virus. The seniors are just doing a great job of being leaders.

"I'm just so appreciative of this group and how they work together. Hats off to our president Dr. Susanna Baxter for trying to make this happen. To athletic director Jennifer Claybrook for putting everything together, and not to mention our medical staff; athletic trainers Rob Dicks and Chris Blocker, who have done so much for us to insure this happens and Sarah Holden, the head of our nursing department, for volunteering to administer the tests."

How it Happened
Huntingdon scored the first basket of the game for its only lead. The Panthers hit their first five three-point shots, three straight by Youngblood, as they opened up a 20-10 lead seven minutes into the game.

Youngblood matched his career high with 18 first half points, hitting 7-of-8 from the floor. Freshman guard Gabe Cofield closed out the first half with his first collegiate trey at the buzzer to push the Panthers' lead to 50-28. LC shot 69.2% in the half, making 7-of-10 three-pointers. Huntingdon was held to 38.2% in the half, going 0-for-11 from three-point range.

Junior guard Drew Shepherd came off the bench in the first half and had several highlight plays. The most impressive was a lob pass to Youngblood for a reverse slam dunk. He also had a behind the back pass to Cameron for an easy layup while going out of bounds after getting a rebound near midcourt. Shepherd finished his night with a game-high seven assists and six rebounds.

The Hawks cut into LC's lead with a 13-4 run to open up the second half. Anderson had 16 of his points in the second half to help hold the Hawks at bay. Youngblood's 3-pointer pushed LC's lead back to 20, 74-54, with nine minutes remaining. Cameron's two free throws in the final minute matched the Panthers' largest lead of 24, 96-72. LC made its first 23 free throws before missing one, finishing 24-of-25 from the line. 

Up Next
The two teams meet again Saturday in Huntingdon's Roland Arena beginning at 3 p.m. EST.

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