PAINESVILLE, Ohio - Way back in November, the Salem men's basketball team fell in their home season opener to the Lake Erie College Storm on a last second three pointer. Salem was able to return the favor on their return trip up to Painesville this evening. They pulled away from northeast Ohio with a tight 78-76 win. 

In the first half, much like the first game between these two teams back in November, the game was tightly contested from the opening jump. Lake Erie would take an initial lead of a handful of points, and Salem would rally back for a slim lead of their own. Specifically, Salem found their scoring punch from their usual source. The outside shooting of Stan Smith, and the offensive distribution of Rodney Smith from the point guard role formed a powerful one-two punch for the Tigers. However, the Storm were not about to go away easily in their own gym, and the game went into the halftime intermission at a 37-37 tie. 

After the break, the game quickly divulged into the back and forth battle that we saw in the first half. With the Storm keeping the pressure on high, Salem was still able to find some key scoring plays in the interior. Justin Tene and Ashraf Tchadouwa were able to grind out a small lead for the Tigers. From there, Salem capitalized on quite a few Storm fouls down the stretch to maintain their slight lead. However, Lake Erie knotted the game up in the closing seconds. Yet, with just moments left on the clock, a late Justin Tene layup gave the Tigers a well-earned 78-76 win. 

On the stats sheet, Salem was led by the combined scoring punch of Stan Smith and Rodney Smith, who each had 19 points. Just behind them was the hero of the evening Justin Tene, who added 18 points. 

With this tough win under their belt, Salem should be primed to add one more in their upcoming regular season finale. They are set to take on Bluefield State in that finale at home on Saturday, February 25th at 4 PM. Salem will be honoring the men's basketball graduating seniors during the pregame of Saturday's contest.