East Lansing took care of business vs. Lansing Eastern. Set up a huge clash against Okemos for the CAAC-Blue title

The East Lansing Trojans have been considered the top basketball team in the Lansing area for awhile. Despite that, they have had more than a few close contests. The closest of which outside their 2 losses this year was against Lansing Eastern, who lost to the Trojans 52-50 in overtime earlier this year.

The Quakers of Lansing Eastern (4-12) have been close in a ton of games this year, but have not been able to turn the corner and turn close games into wins.The Trojans of East Lansing (14-2) on the other hand, have continued to be a well oiled machine during the regular season like the past 2 or 3 years prior. Largely thanks to their Mr. Basketball candidate, and Michigan commit Brandon Johns, a top 60 player in the country.

With East Lansing having a huge game against Okemos just a few days after this game, there was the possibility of this being a trap game for EL. However, that proved to not be the case, and the Trojans took care of business with no issues.

Right from the opening tip East Lansing was locked in and took the game right to the Quakers. Noah Schon and Brandon Johns combined for 25 first quarter points, which essentially put the game to bed in the first quarter.

The second quarter was more of the same as the Trojans held Eastern to just 7 points in that quarter. Brandon Johns and Noah Schon were torching the nets in the first half, as both made 3 3s, and Malik Jones had a strong 2nd quarter as well. Willard Payne was the only player for Eastern who was playing well, as he had 11 of their 15.

It looked like East Lansing would cruise into a running clock early in the 3rd, as they got the lead up to as many as 38. But Eastern managed to cut the lead to 29 and the lead for the Trojans stayed between 28-34 points the rest of the game. Both teams began rotating heavily midway through the 3rd as East Lansing won the game 80-48.

Michigan signee Brandon Johns had a great game for East Lansing, posting 30 points, 13 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Noah Schon had 17. 15 of those 17 points came in the first half thanks to his terrific shooting ability. Aquinas commit Malik Jones also added 10 points and had 7 assists for the Trojans. Jones continued to show why he is one of the top passers in the Lansing area.

Willard Payne had a solid game for Eastern. He finished with 18 points and 5 rebounds.