Everything but the Win: Tri-C Men's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker in OT, 99-96

Lakeland Defeats Tri-C in Overtime

College honors NBA Hall-of-Famer Ben Wallace in jersey retirement ceremony at half-time

CLEVELAND – Ahead by eight points with less than seven minutes to play, the Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) men's basketball team ran into its biggest obstacle ― inexperience. The visiting Lakeland Lakers stormed back to tie the contest and claim a 99-96 overtime victory on Wednesday night.

"The guys played hard and followed the game plan, but the inexperience got to us," said head coach Aaron Nixon. "Essentially we have 13 guys who've never played college basketball (until this season)."

For Lakeland, a combination of clutch defense with terrific shooting from sophomore Jaidon Lipscomb and freshman Elhadji Thiam was enough for the OCCAC conference-leading Lakers to claim a victory.

"We got just enough defensive stops ― just enough ― at the end to win, and we needed every single one of them," said Lakers coach Terrell Eskridge.

Lipscomb led Lakeland with 24 points, including a clutch basket that put the visitors ahead 95-94 with 38.6 seconds left in overtime. Thiam notched 22 points.

Lakeland was behind 80-72 with 6:58 remaining on the clock. It clawed back, taking an 85-84 lead with a Zach Wartley basket with 1:19 left in regulation. Wartley, a freshman, finished the game with 16 points.

Devin Haid led Tri-C with 26 points. His two free throws with 36.7 seconds remaining gave the Triceratops an 86-85 lead, but Lakeland's Landon Tillman tied the contest when he notched the second of two free throws with 24.7 seconds left. Tri-C's Manny Hill misfired on a last-second shot, which sent the contest into overtime.

Lakeland freshman Jaden Woods had 17 points and sophomore Landon Tillman added 15 more for the victors.

"Rebounding the ball, pushing with tempo, big-time shots and, at the end, just having heart," is how Lipscomb described his team's effort. "We had to play with a lot of emotion tonight."

Tillman was succinct about the victory.

"We kept our composure," he said.

Wallace Honored at Halftime

Tri-C took a 49-46 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Lakeland consented to an extended halftime period so Tri-C could pay tribute to one of the NBA's all-time greats, Ben Wallace. Wallace began his basketball career at Tri-C in 1992-1994 and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons.

A key part of the Pistons' 2003-2004 NBA championship team and four-time Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA, Wallace was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2021. Tri-C President Michael Baston and others unveiled a banner with Wallace's name and number 4 during a halftime jersey-retirement ceremony.

Alluding to the fact that he was not drafted by the NBA, Wallace paid tribute to Tri-C's investment in him as a 17-year-old from Alabama.

"Tri-C is the first school to put an undrafted player into the Hall of Fame," Wallace said to cheering fans.

Looking ahead

With its victory, Lakeland improves its OCCAC mark to 12-1 and has a 20-4 record for the season. The Lakers have won 11 of their last 12 games. Tri-C drops to 22-5 and 10-3 in the OCCAC. The setback also ends an eight-game Triceratops winning streak.

Tri-C will resume action on Saturday at Terra State, while Lakeland could clinch the OCCAC with a victory at Hocking College on Saturday.