By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---Freshman point guard Shaakir Lindsey(Teaneck/Teaneck, NJ) had a season-high 13 points to lead the No. 8 Express men's basketball team past Lake Michigan College 87-69 in the SHAC today.

Lindsey finished 5-for-7 overall from the field (1-for-3 from 3-point range), while adding six rebounds, three steals and one assist. He made his first start today and led the team in minutes played with 28.

After Lindsey tied the game up at 2-all less than a minute into the game, the Express struggled early against the Red Hawks, who got an emphatic, one-handed fast break dunk from Ken Coates to take a 14-11 lead with 14:28 left in the first half.

Coates, who led his team in scoring, saw his team eventually take a 20-14 lead with 10:34 left in the half before the Express turned up the intensity.

John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) hit a jumper, Kenny Jones(Clay/South Bend, Ind) converted a 3-point play and Andy Bachman(North Side/Fort Wayne, Ind.) hit a 3-pointer to give the Express a 22-20 lead with 9:35 left. It was the first lead of the game for the Express.

After the Red Hawks briefly re-took the lead, Bachman emphatically gave the Express the lead for good moments later. He hit another 3-pointer, on an assist from Markese Allen (Crockett/Detroit, Mich), before grabbing a steal near half-court and taking it the distance and finishing with a one-hand, lefty dunk to give the Express a 30-25 lead with 7:57 left.

In fact, after the Red Hawks had tied the game at 25-all with nine minutes left in the half, the Express went on a 20-2 run to take a 45-27 lead with 3:01 left. Following Red Hawk lay-ups from Cameron Reeves and Loren Johnson, Edmond Early Jr. (Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, Ohio) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Express a 51-31 lead at the break.

The Red Hawks made a run over the first 14 minutes of the second half and cut their deficit to seven with 5:59 left, but an 8-2 Express run closed the Red Hawk momentum. 

Tony Boykins (Loy Norrix/Kalamazoo, Mich.) later threw home a powerful two-handed dunk with 1:15 left as the Express closed out an 18-point win.

Boykins joined Lindsey as the duo scored a team-high 13 points apiece, while Bachman and Murry each added 11 points. Lindsey and Jones each had a team-high three steals, while Jones had a team-high nine rebounds.

The Red Hawks finished 1-for-21 from 3-point range, while the Express shot 30-for-62 (48.4 percent) overall from the field - including a 9-for-21 finish from 3-point range.

The Express improved to 4-2 this year with the win. They will travel to Henry Ford Community College on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup.

The Red Hawks, who fall to 2-2 with the loss, were led by Coates, who finished with a game-high 23 points, along with a game-high six assists. Johnson (16) and T.J. Scott (12) also contributed in the scoring column.