The Lakeland Lakers faced the top-ranked South Suburban Bulldogs tonight in the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII basketball tournament in Danville, Il. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they succumbed to a strong second half from the Bulldogs and were defeated 82-63. With the loss, the Lakers fall to 24-2 on the year. This was a tale of two halves for Lakeland as both teams battled neck and neck throughout. For most of the half, the teams were within 3 points of each other as both teams either went on small runs or just traded baskets. The teams went into the half with the Lakers trailing 35-32. Kyle Jackson (6 points and 8 rebounds) and Noah Berry (5 points and 8 rebounds led the Lakers in the first half. Datrey Long also pitched in with 7 points and 3 boards. The back and forth play appeared to give the Lakers some confidence. They finished the half strong and it appeared that this game was going to be close throughout.

The first 5 minutes of the second half featured the same style of play. Teams continued to trade baskets until Lakeland hit a cold spell. During that time they missed a couple of free throws and some open looks while also committing a couple of turnovers. Within 2 minutes, the lead grew from 5 points to 11 points and from there the Lakers were unable to recover. Lakeland did battle though and played the Bulldogs even for about the next 5 minutes before South Suburban was able to gradually pull away. A key to the half was South Suburbans' interior defense as they finished the game with 10 team blocks.

Chaze Harris finished as the leading scorer for the Lakers finishing with 16 points. Datrey Long finished his night with 12 points while Kyle Jackson and Noah Berry each added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Berry also had 2 blocks on the night.

Next Up: The Lakers will play again on Friday at 4:00 pm EST. Lakeland will play the loser of the Des Moines Area Community College vs Milwaukee Area Tech game played Thursday night. If Lakeland wins Friday, they will advance to the 5th-6th place game on Saturday.