Eklund injured in men's basketball loss

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

The LCC men’s basketball team lost 113-109 to Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Saturday, Feb. 10 after freshman forward Jamison Eklund went down with an ankle injury at the end of the first half.

Eklund already had 15 points for LCC before the ankle injury, and was not able to return. He said he was holding the ball waiting for a play to develop when a defender tipped it out of his hands.

“I turned to run to grab it and you can see in the video where I completely rolled (my ankle),” Eklund said.

This game marked the Stars’ fifth straight loss and dropped their record to 10-12 overall and to 1-7 in conference play.

Although Eklund went down, the Stars’ bench players stepped up and helped keep the game close with their scoring.

Freshman guard Terrell White came off the bench to lead LCC in scoring with 27 points, including five threes. Sophomore guard Blake Samuels also played well off the bench, scoring 10 points and knocking down two threes.

LCC Head Coach Mike Ingram was pleased with how both White and Samuels played off the bench.

“We had 37 points off the bench between White and Samuels and that really gave us a chance,” Ingram said.

Despite the loss, the Stars’ whole team finished the game in double-digit scoring. Freshman forward Xavier Thomason was their second leading scorer with 18 points, followed by freshman guard Devan Wilson with 17.

Ingram said the team played well together, but the injury from Eklund set them back.

“You take our leading scorer and rebounder out of the game against the best team in the league; it makes it tough,” Ingram said. “We were right there and the guys battled the whole time and never gave up.”

Coming to the last four games of the season, Ingram acknowledged that LCC will not make the playoffs if it does not finish the season strong.

“If the season ended right now we would be out,” Ingram said. “I think that if we win our last four games we could sneak in there, so we can’t afford to lose anymore, but all these games are winnable.”

LCC’s next game will be on the road against Marian University Ancilla on Wednesday, Feb. 14. Eklund is still questionable for this upcoming game, and Ingram said the Stars will play it day by day.

“We really won’t change what we do, we’ll just move a guy over and move one up,” Ingram said. “I was really pleased how Blake (Samuels) came in and really helped us out, so I have to keep that in mind.”