Lopes win three at home
The Lamar Community College Lopes men's basketball won three games at home this past week, improving to 8-1 in the season with a 6-0 home record.
The LCC men's basketball team first held a home contest against Clarendon College (Texas) on Tuesday, November 15, at the LCC Wellness Center.
Lamar defeated Clarendon College for the second time this season and posted an 81-68 victory.
The Lopes came out and played a strong first half, with Clarendon sticking close by capitalizing on their outside shooting ability.
LCC held a 16-6 lead five minutes into the first half before the Bulldogs fought back tie the game at 18-18 midway through. The Lopes regained the lead, 21-18, with a three-pointer by Richard Caldwell.
The game was tied at 24-24 with 7:23 showing when a thunderous dunk by Wayne Stewart on an assist by Isaiah Martin gave LCC a 26-24 lead that they held the remainder of the half.
At halftime, the 'Lopes held a 38-33 lead.
The Lopes made the shots and plays when they needed to in the second half, picking up their sixth win of the season.
LCC connected on only three 3-pointers and were 8-of-12 from the free throw line. The Lopes held the rebounding edge 47-21.
Isaiah Martin led the Lopes with 11 boards and 16 points while shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor.
LCC had balanced scoring with four in double figures. Wayne Stewart had 25 points, followed by Martin with 16, Richard Caldwell with 14 and Jerome LaNeir with 10 points.
The Lopes first win of the weekend came from Frank Phillips College (Texas) on Friday, November 18.
The match-up was intense defensively from the beginning. Both teams struggled finding easy baskets and had to work hard to put points on the board, but Frank Phillips found an offensive rhythm toward the end of the first half. They led the lopes 33-24 going into halftime.
"We did a pretty good job on defense, but they made some tough shots to get a lead. Our main issue was the execution on the offensive end," said Lopes head coach Sercan Fenerci. "We talked about execution and taking one possession at a time during the half-time."
Second half started just the way Coach Fenerci wanted. The Lopes slowly chipped away at the lead, one possession at a time, and eventually took the lead with eleven minutes left on the game clock. The team began building on the lead, executing very well on offense, helping the Lopes overtake Frank Phillips with a score of 69-64.
"Frank Phillips is a very well coached team, who runs their offense, very physical on defense and rebound well on both ends. But our guys played with poise and harder in the second half to win the game," said LCC's Coach Fenerci.
Michael Skinner led the way with 20 points and team high ten rebounds. Richard Caldwell chipped in ten points and three assists; Isaiah Martin with eight points, eight rebounds, and team-leading four blocks; and Jerome LaNeir added nine points and five rebounds with three blocks.
LCC men's basketball then played Northern New Mexico College JV on Saturday afternoon, during which NNMC was no match for the Lopes' intensity.
The team jumped on the lead with a 14-1 start in the first two minutes. The Lopes were on cruise control for the rest of the half, going into the break with a score of 52-24.
NNMC started the second half started with some long distance shot making and were able to cut the lead to as low as 16 points with 15 minutes left on the clock, but the Lopes picked up the pace again and ended the game with a winning score of 102-63.
Stat leaders for the night were Ryley Stewart (18 points), Wayne Stewart (15 points), Isaiah Martin (14 points, 11 rebounds), and Jerome LaNeir (11 points, 11 rebounds).
Lopes men's basketball will be travelling to Casper, Wyoming, during the Thanksgiving break for a 3-game tournament.
LCC will face Central Wyoming College on Thursday, November 24 at 5:00pm, Casper College (Wyoming) on Friday, November 25 at 7:00pm, and finish with Dawson Community College (Montana) on Saturday, November 26 at 3:00pm. All of the Thanksgiving Classic games will be broadcasted online at https://livestream.com/caspercollege.
LCC will then open Region 9 play at home on Wednesday, November 30, against McCook Community College. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm. They'll then travel to Otero Junior College on Saturday, December 3, to take on the Rattlers at 7:00pm.