Lakeland College

After an 11-day holiday layoff, you might expect the Lakeland College men's basketball team to need a few days to shake off the winter doldrums and the Christmas goodies.

Maybe not.

The Muskies, playing for the first time since Dec. 20, scored 24 of their first 30 points Friday night from behind the 3-point line and grabbed control early in a 75-64 non-conference win over visiting Northland College.

It's the sixth straight win for Lakeland (8-4), which also won for the eighth time in the last nine games. Northland (1-7) dropped its seventh straight.

Lakeland made eight 3-point baskets in the first 12 minutes of the game, as Kris Saiberlich hit three, Aaron Regal and Khendal Andrews made two each and Shane Grube made one. For the game, Lakeland made 14 of 36 shots from 3-point range.

"That's kind of what we do," said Lakeland head coach Kyle Brumett. "We got back on Jan. 1 and started shooting right away. Our shooters are serious about shooting, and I'm sure they got some shots up at home over those 11 days."

Saiberlich finished with 23 points, while Andrews added 12 and Grube, who was playing for the first time since breaking his hand on Nov. 28 against Edgewood, added 10. Danny Ehnert returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 4, when he suffered a knee injury.

"It just adds so much to be whole again, especially after putting ourselves in a good position in spite of the injuries," Brumett said. "Now we're bringing back two seniors with a wealth of experience. Danny comes back and gets nine rebounds for us tonight. Shane leaves averaging 12.5 points and scores 10 in 13 minutes.

"We had other guys get some good experience while they were out and that's going to make us a better team over the long haul. We've got 15 guys right now that can play. We have a long list of guys that have made significant contributions for us."

Lakeland returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Marian in an important early-season Northern Athletics Conference game. Marian handed Lakeland its last lost, 86-80, back on Dec. 4 in Fond du Lac.