COLUMBUS, OHIO – A difficult second half on offense hurt Roosevelt in a 68-52 loss to Ohio Dominican on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
The Lakers (0-3) slowly but surely built out a lead against the Panthers in the first half behind strong shooting from Mason Kleinsmith to complement Jalen Windham. Kleinsmith made three of his first four shots, including sinking both of his 3-point attempts, to help Roosevelt build an eight-point lead with less than three minutes in the half.
However, after Windham scored his 14th point of the first half to give the Lakers that 36-28 lead, Roosevelt did not score for the rest of the half. Ohio Dominican scored the final 11 points of the half then continued to stifle the Lakers to start the second half. By the time Kaleim Taylor made a 3-pointer a little more than five minutes into the second half, the Lakers had missed 12 straight shots and trailed by nine.
Roosevelt was able to trim the deficit down to five with 9:42 remaining, but the shots stopped falling for the Lakers. Kleinsmith's transition layup with 11:41 left was the last field goal Roosevelt made in the game as the Lakers shot just 3 of 27 from the floor in the second half. Roosevelt's defense did its part in limiting the Panthers to just 11 of 30 from the field, including 1 of 10 from behind the arc, but it was not enough.
Windham finished with 14 points in the game to lead four Lakers who finished in double figures. Kleinsmith scored 12 points while Dante Sawyer and Taylor finished with 11 points apiece. Sawyer tied with Griffin Yaklich for the team lead with seven rebounds each in the setback.
UP NEXT: After Thanksgiving, the Lakers will hit the road again, traveling to Northwood on Nov. 29 for a matchup with the Timberwolves at 2 p.m.
