Cedarville’s Bain is too much for Storm

Lake Erie College coach Kyle Conley was well aware of the threat posed by Cedarville senior guard Patrick Bain.

Bain came into the game against the Storm on Jan. 25 at the Osborne Center averaging 20.4 points per game, second in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

A leading candidate for GMAC Player of the Year, Bain poured in what then was a career-high 35 points earlier this month in a victory over Ohio Dominican.

The former Ohio Division IV first-team honoree at Bethel High School has a new high-water mark after torching the Storm for 41 points as the Yellow Jackets pulled away in the second half to an 84-79 victory.

“Patrick Main is a really good player, one of the best wings in our league, for sure,” Conley said. “We spent the last couple of days telling our players how they run almost everything through him and how important it was to at least contain him.”

Despite the defensive focus on him, Bain brought the pain to the home team. He made 17 of 27 field goals and was 4-of-7 on 3-pointers. He also pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists and had three steals.

In a game in which almost every statistical measurement was identical or nearly so, those 41 points made winners of the visitors and losers of the Storm.

“That was a senior playing like his team’s season was on the line,” Conley said. “He made the plays veteran players make to win games. Give him all the credit in the world.”

Cedarville upped its records to 9-9 overall and 4-7 in the GMAC.

Bain agreed with Conley’s assessment of the intensity he showed throughout the game. He said that intensity was born of the Yellow Jackets battling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the GMAC.

“Every game for us now is do or die. We have to bring it every night,” Bain said.

“Tonight was one of those nights when a lot of the shots I took felt like they were going in,” he added. “There was a lot of energy on our team and I fed off that.”

Sophomore guard Gabe Kynard topped the Storm with 23 points. Sophomore forward Lamont Rhodes added 12 points and a teamhigh eight rebounds.

LEC slipped to 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the GMAC with a second straight loss. The Storm are in sixth place.

“We did enough at the offensive end, but our effort was not good enough as a group on defense,” Conley said.

Cedarville coach Pat Estepp said he was pleased to have Bain as his main man and even more pleased to get out of Painesville with a win.

“That’s a really good team over there with a lot of guys who can score,” Estepp said.