Lake Erie men ready for GMAC tournament

The Storm face host Hillsdale in the quarterfinals of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament. David S. Glasier caught up with the team before their bus departed for Michigan.

Lake Erie College men’s basketball coach Kyle Conley paused briefly in his office March 4 after the Storm completed an early morning practice at Osborne Center.

In a few hours, Conley and his players would board the bus and make the 3 ½hour drive to Michigan, where they will face Hillsdale College on March 5 in the quarterfinals of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference tournament.

“We want to be back here practicing on (March 6),” Conley said.

For that to happen, the No. 6 seeded Storm will have to get the better of the No. 3 seeded Chargers.

The Storm finished 1711 overall and 12-8 in the GMAC. Those are the top victory totals for the LEC men’s team since the program made the jump to Division II from Division III in the 2008-09 season.

They bettered last season’s 16-14 and 10-10 marks achieved in Conley’s second year on the job.

“We took steps forward this season and feel good about where we are. Nobody wants this to end,” Conley said.

Hillsdale finished 18-9 overall and 14-6 in the GMAC. The teams split their regular-season series, each winning on its home floor.

LEC prevailed on Feb. 16, 53-52. The difference in the game proved to be LEC ju- nior guard Gabe Kynard’s 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining in the second half. Kynard averages a team-high 18.1 points, third-highest in the GMAC.

Hillsdale junior forward Dylan Lowry and sophomore forward David Larson lead a balanced attack with averages of 12.9 points and 12.3 points, respectively.

“Both of these teams are built around defense and rebounding, so something unusual would have to happen for this game to be highscoring.” Conley said.

In the semifinals of the 2018 GMAC tournament, Hillsdale posted a 75-63 victory over LEC. The Chargers lead the all-time series, 14-2.

“Our guys are fully aware of that history,” Conley said.

The winner advances to semifinals on March 8 against the winner of the quarterfinal on March 5 between No. 2 Walsh (217) and No. 7 Malone (1513).

The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.

Kynard