PAINESVILLE — Sophomore forward Jonny Manning and his Lake Erie College teammates had to dig deep twice Dec. 17 to pull out a 76-69 overtime win over Ohio Dominican at the Osborne Center.
In regulation, the Storm trailed, 62-54, with three minutes remaining. An 8-0 run capped by graduate guard PJ Jones’ 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds remaining forged a 62-62 tie and pushed the game into overtime.
The Panthers raced to a 68-62 lead two minutes deep into the extra session, only to have the Storm answer with a 14-1 run that secure a hard-fought victory.
Manning (Midview) finished with a game-high 22 points and team-high 12 rebounds as LEC upped its records to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
“We finally started to play together as a team and hold each other accountable in what we felt was a must-win game,” Manning said of the overtime outburst that proved decisive.
The Storm made a number of big plays in ovetime, but none was bigger than the 3-pointer from the left baseline by freshman guard Jake Leibacher with 1:41 remaining that gave LEC the lead for good at 70-68.
“He’s one of the hardest workers on this team, so we were all glad he got that chance to make something happen,” Manning said of Leibacher.
Also scoring double figures for the Storm were junior guard Jordan Burge (17), junior gaurd Jacob Plantz (15) and Jones (14).
“We were able to have multiple guys step up and make shots,” LEC coach Kyle Conley said.
Senior guard Sean Marks finished with 18 points for ODU (3-8, 1-5 G-MAC).
Conley likes the position his players have put themselves in going to the heart of G-MAC play.
“We have a deep, experienced team and big expectations in the conference,” he said.
The Storm swings back into action Dec. 31 at home against first-place Hillsdale. Tipoff is 3 p.m.
