Freshman Aiden Polzin (Clintonville, Wis.) scored 24 points in his collegiate debut and the Lakeland University men's basketball team made its belated 2020-21 season debut with a 97-76 win over North Central (Minn.) University Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies played for the first time in a season delayed more than two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also the first athletics event of the school year on the Lakeland campus and first since a men's volleyball match March 11, 2020, two days before the rest of the athletics year was cancelled due to the coronavirus.

Polzin came off the bench to make 9 of 12 shots including 6 of 8 from three-point range. He led a group of six scoring in double figures as the Muskies rallied from an early 10-point deficit to win the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Lakeland rallied late in the first half to take a 48-45 halftime lead and blew the game open with a 25-4 run to start the second half. Thirteen consecutive points finished the spree, with Polzin's fifth three-pointer putting the Muskies ahead 73-49 with 12 minutes, 5 seconds to play.

Lakeland then had answers every time down the stretch after the Rams made a late run to get back within striking distance. North Central scored ten straight points to get back within 76-63 with 8:29 left, but the teams would trade baskets for the next four minutes and the Muskies put it away with another 12-1 spurt late for a 97-74 lead.

The Rams (1-4 overall) came out strong early and built a 22-12 with 10:33 left in the first half on a short jumper by Jonathan Thompson. Lakeland began warming up from there, though, with Polzin and Trenton Nickel (Sr.-Kiel, Wis.) both hitting three three-pointers in the first half, and Polzin's three with a minute left in the half put the Muskies up for good at 46-43.

The Muskies made nine three-pointers in the first half and 17 for the game on its way to shooting 48.7% overall from the field (37 of 76). Newcomer Earl Lewis (Jr.-Madison, Wis.) also scored 16 points and Tylan Huff (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) added 16 points, with Nickel and Cam Jaeger (Fr.-Oostburg, Wis.) scoring 13 each and Jequan Pegeese (Sr.-Beloit, Wis.) adding 10. Huff, Jaeger and Nickel all finished with five rebounds and Nickel and Pegeese also added six assists each.

Micah Filer scored 22 points to lead North Central, which shot 44.3% (31 of 70) but was just 8 of 27 from three-point range (29.6%). Thompson also added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Rams from Minneapolis, Minn., members of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference who were playing their second game of the new year and were one of just 30 NCAA Division III programs to play competitions in the fall semester.

Lakeland next is set to take on another UMAC school when it travels to take on the University of Northwestern (Minn.) in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.