After going seven days without playing, the Lancers eased back into things with a dominating 75-44 win over Northwest on Feb. 4. With a clear size advantage, senior Aareon Smith led the way with a season-high 28 points and got to the free-throw line at will, where he made 12 of 13 foul shots.
Junior Nick Messer also broke out of a recent shooting slump and hit four three-pointers, including a four-point play in the third quarter.
Despite the final score, the game was close early on as Northwest led 21-16 to end the first quarter. But the two teams played it tight until halftime, when the Lancers took a 33-32 going into the locker room.
It was all Lafayette from then on. Smith outscored the entire Northwest team with 19 second-half points and junior Joel Pennington recovered from a rough first half to finish with 15. In total, the Lancers finished on 42-12 run and improved to 10-7 on the season with the victory.
Up next for Lafayette is a game at Howell Central at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7.
