McHenry, MD – Garrett College's men's basketball team could have looked past the winless Wolfpack, especially with powerhouse Howard Community College next on the schedule.  Instead, the Lakers took care of business Wednesday night, recording a workmanlike, 87-62 victory over Westmoreland County (Pa.) Community College.

"This could have been the ultimate 'trap game' with Howard coming in tomorrow [Thursday] night," said GC head coach Matt McCullough, whose Lakers (6-1) won their sixth straight game.  "We did a good job not overlooking them knowing we had a big game coming up."

Tyler Rodeheaver and Darius Jones led a balanced offensive attack for the Lakers, scoring 12 points each, while Mekhi Price and Lamondre Gregg added 11 and 10 points, respectively.  Kobe Tigney scored 9, Dalton Wiles had 8, Ezekiel Elliott chipped in 7, and Terrance Ward and Justen Anderson each added 6 as 11 Lakers made it into the scoring column.

Jakir Hampton scored a game-high 20 points, including 14 in the second half, and Tahiyr Vines added 19 for Westmoreland (0-7).

McCullough praised his squad's defensive effort, which allowed only 20 first-half points as the Lakers took control.

"We were much better defensively tonight than in the past couple of games," said McCullough.  "We spent time talking about it and working on it in practice – especially keeping people out of the lane."

McCullough was especially pleased with the way the Lakers held down Hampton – who came in averaging 24.8 points per game – in the first half.

"Hampton is a really good player," observed McCullough.  "We did a really nice job doubling him, sending help, throwing different rotations at him, and showing him different looks defensively."

GC raced to an early 15-6 lead as Rodeheaver scored 6 points and Tigney added 5, including a 3-pointer.  Westmoreland used a 6-0 run, capped by a Hampton jumper, to pull within 15-12, but the Lakers answered with 6 straight points of their own.

Edwards scored off a weakside offensive rebound, Rodeheaver spun inside for a layup and Lamont Powell hit a jumper from the right corner to make it 21-12. The Lakers' lead reached double digits at 24-14 when Mekhi Price drained a 3-pointer.

"Price's approach to the game was much better tonight," said McCullough.  "He was good on both ends of the floor.  He's a really talented player who can help us a lot."

Jones jumpstarted a 9-2 Laker surge to end the half, hitting a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to start the spurt.  Ward ended the run with a breakaway dunk and a more sedate transition layup, both off steals around half-court, as the Lakers took a 39-20 lead at the break.

"Ward had an overall nice game," said McCullough.  "He's coming off an injury and he's starting to get his confidence."

The Lakers blew the game wide open with a 14-4 run to start the second half.

Tigney and Wiles had consecutive transition layups to start the run and Rodeheaver hit a foul-line jumper to make it 45-20.  Wiles and Rodeheaver each had another basket during the surge, which Edwards finished with a corner jumper that made it 53-24.

The Lakers had little time to savor the win with Howard CC (6-3 overall, 1-0 Maryland JuCo) visiting Thursday night.

"Back-to-backs are always a challenge," said McCullough, whose team swept its only other back-to-back so far this season.  "This [Howard] is the biggest game of the year so far.  I thought in the preseason they were the best team in the conference, and I still think that may be the case."

The Dragons were ranked 16^th in the first NJCAA Division II poll of the year before taking 3 losses in a pair of high-powered mixers.  Howard has 3 players averaging in double figures in Daeshawn Eaton (16.3 points per game), David Garey (14.1 points, 3.7 assists) and Joel Webb (10.4 points, 9.3 rebounds). 

Howard had one extra day's rest to prepare for the Lakers, having defeated Harford Community College, 79-66, on Tuesday night.

GC's women's basketball team, which is 5-1, hosts Howard Thursday at 5 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 7 p.m.