Lorain coach Matt Kielian’s message to his team has been to have fun early on this season.
It’s a lot more fun when you win.
After a tough week that had the Titans drop their first four games, they got in the win column for the first time this season following a 59-46 win at Amherst on Dec. 12.
The game was tied in the fourth quarter, but Lorain scored 18 of the game’s next 21 points to build a 15-point lead late. After some chaotic play from both sides at times, the Titans settled things down and showed composure to come through with the victory.
“One of the things that we’re stressing and one of our cores value is resilience,” Kielian said. “It’s been a tough stretch, but I love our team and I love our players. I love their grit, and I feel like that’s what it took tonight to get this win.”
Lorain didn’t play a flawless game, but it improved in some of the areas that were costly in the four losses. On top of that, the Titans did it on the road against a feisty Amherst team in front of a rowdy crowd.
On multiple occasions, Lorain would go on a run only for Amherst to answer back and make it a close game again. The Titans got out to a 10-2 start, but the Comets responded to take a 14-12 lead. To start the second quarter, Lorain got two quick baskets to take a 22-15 lead, but Landen Bray knocked down three 3-pointers for Amherst to spark a 9-2 run and tie it up.
Lorain led by four at halftime and stretched it out to eight to start the second half with back-to-back baskets from Jaiden Guerra-Howard. However, the Comets put a 7-0 run together to cut the deficit to one. Lorain led after three quarters, 41-39, but David Dudziak made two free throws to tie it early in the fourth.
The turnovers were piling up for Lorain, including four of them to start the fourth without even attempting a shot. Once the Titans were able to settle in, the basketball started to go in.
“It felt good being up and having the lead,” Guerra-Howard said. “We slowed the game down. Coach Kiel has us slow the game down. Smart move.”
Guerra-Howard had a typical performance of 16 points, but Lorain’s offense production wasn’t the same with Asiah Kielian battling foul trouble and finishing with only four points. With his scoring absent, the entire team stepped up.
Tied at 41, Zayvion Emerson made a layup to give Lorain the lead. Tristyn Young tied it up on the other end for Amherst, but Lorain closed on a 16-3 run afterward. Guerra-Howard followed up on his own missed shot with a putback that wound up giving the Titans the lead for good.
Sae’vonn Brown scored two straight afterward to build the lead to six. He was a difference-maker all night and scored a game-high 17 points. Up by five with two minutes left, Ike Rowser made his fourth 3 of the game that served as the dagger.
“(Sae’vonn) was active, and they had trouble with him,” Kielian said. “He’s athletic, he found the holes and the spot. Jaiden and our other players did a good job finding him. That was definitely the difference, and Ike hit some big 3s. His big 3 in the corner there put us up.”
While Lorain felt the foul calls with Asiah Kielian out for the most of the game, the Titans had the depth to overcome it. As the amount of fouls on both sides grew, Amherst doesn’t have that luxury.
The Comets played three tough games to start the season, but won all three with late-game runs. It was the opposite in this one. They only played seven guys, and the scoring well dried up as fatigue started to set in. On top of that, Lorain is one of the more athletic teams that Amherst will see this season.
“You could tell that we got tired and we got in some foul trouble,” Amherst coach Pat Bray said. “We were trying to go at them and we gave them our best shot. We knew it was going to be a game like this. We gave them our best shot, and that’s what these guys are going to do every night.”
Landen Bray and Young led Amherst with 15 points, and Dudziak added 10.
Both teams hit the court next Dec. 15 in their respective conferences. Lorain travels to Shaw, and Amherst hosts Midview.