PLYMOUTH, Wis. - Seniors Trenton Nickel (Kiel, Wis.) and Jequan Pegeese (Beloit, Wis.) scored 20 points apiece to pace the Lakeland University men's basketball team to a 92-81 win over Milwaukee School of Engineering Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Raiders on the strength of statistically identical nights in many ways from the two senior guards, as Nickel and Pegeese totaled 20 points, six assists, and four rebounds each. Lakeland improved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division, while MSOE dropped its second straight to fall to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in division play.

In a game of contrasting offensive philosophies, the Muskies' outside shooting prevailed against the Raiders' interior-oriented attack. Lakeland shot 52.5% from the field (31 of 59), including 11-for-23 shooting (47.8) from beyond the three-point arc, with six different Muskies making at least one three. The Raiders made their living inside, outscoring Lakeland 54-38 in the paint.

MSOE also posted a huge 48-27 rebounding advantage, but Lakeland minimized its negatives, including getting inside enough to score 34 points off layups. The Muskies also took ten more trips to the free throw line, going 19 of 24 (79.2%) from the charity stripe while MSOE made 7 of 14 (50.0%) from the line.

The two squads were evenly matched in a close first half, and the Raiders took a 44-43 lead into halftime. Nickel hit back-to-back threes within the first two minutes of the second half to put Lakeland back ahead, and his layup less than two minutes later gave the Muskies the lead again, one they would not give up the rest of the way.

MSOE did not go away quietly, cutting the lead to 66-65 with 8:42 remaining, but Lakeland went on a 15-5 run in the next four minutes on the way to its first double-digit lead, with a pair of free throws from Matt Sechman (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) giving Lakeland an 81-70 advantage. The Muskies closed it out making their last nine free throws.

Lakeland was balanced on offense with six scoring in double figures. Like Pegeese and Nickel, Tylan Huff (So.-Milwaukee, Wis.) and Cam Jaeger (Fr.-Oostburg, Wis.) had similar stat lines with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Sechman and Earl Lewis (Jr.-Madison, Wis.) added 11 points each.

Ty Miklowski led the Raiders with 21 points and Sammy Linn added 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Lakeland was able to slow leading scorer Michael Pitrof, who scored at least 14 points in all three of last season's matchups against the Muskies but was held to seven points on 3 of 10 shooting.

Lakeland and MSOE complete their two-game series on Saturday at 5 p.m.