Lorain survives scare on the road vs. Maple Heights

Lorain withstood a barrage of 3-pointers from Maple Heights, but another big night from senior guard Jamir Billings and another strong game from Kam Thomas allowed the Titans to pull out the 78-65 Lake Erie League road win.

Billings scored 19 points and senior forward Thomas scored 17 points, which improved to 6-4 with the win and 5-3 in the Lake Erie League.

Aden Brown added 14 and De’Vante Jackson added 13 for Lorain, who improved to 6-4 and 5-3 in the Lake Erie League with the win.

Lorain was playing its third straight game without West Virginia-recruit Seth Wilson.

The 6-foot-3 guard, who was averaging around 23 points a game, has been sidelined with a thumb injury, but should be back in two weeks, which would mean he could play a couple of regular season games and be ready for the tournament.

Maple Heights, who entered the game with just two wins, connected on 11 3-pointers to keep the game close.

“They came out and hit seven 3s in the first half and a lot of them were under pressure. They shot the heck out of the ball. We just kept defending and in the second half those shots weren’t falling,” said Lorain coach John Rositano.

Lorain led 20-19 after one quarter. Maple connected on 5 3-pointers in the first eight minutes. Lorain connected on four from distance in the first period, though, which offset Maple’s hot start from downtown.

Billings hit a pair of triples in the first quarter and finished the half with 11 as Lorain led 44-36 at the intermission.

Thomas was assertive early, as he scored eight points early and was a factor on the boards, according to Rositano.

“We got another really good game from Kam Thomas. He’s been rebounding the basketball and he’s been strong around the hoop, the same with Aden Brown and Billings was his steady self. I thought we played really well. We withstood their barrage early and we settled down and we played a very good basketball game

on the road,” said Rositano.

Conditioning has helped Thomas thrive, Rositano said, of the 6-foot-4 Thomas.

“He’s getting in basketball shape. He’s getting up and down the floor. He’s rebounding like a man, he’s playing with confidence. The way he’s playing, the way Aden Brown is looking, when we get Wilson back it’s just going to make everyone better,” said Rositano.

The Titans also received a strong effort from Jordan Daniels who scored 8 points. Daniels, a junior, has seen his playing

time increase dramatically due to Wilson’s absence.

“He stroked two threes in rhythm and he’s another guy that played 12-to-14 minutes and played well,” said Rositano.

Maple Heights fell 2-8 with the loss and 2-6 in the LEL.

Lorain is home this weekend. The Titans play host to Cleveland Heights on Friday night and a Bedford on Saturday night. Bedford, because of problems with its home gym, is playing all of its games on the road and is making its second trip to Lorain. The Bearcats nipped Lorain in late January.