By Davis Ramage
LBSU men’s basketball shocked the basketball world with their 94-86 win over Michigan Friday night.
The Michigan Wolverines came into the game as around 15-point favorites and were up 16 points at one point, but The Beach battled back and took down the Blue with a win that will go down as one of the most iconic wins in program history.
Senior guard Marcus Tsohonis led the way for The Beach with 35 points on an efficient 12-19 shooting. With this performance, Tsohonis eclipsed 1,000 career points spread across his three collegiate teams, Washington, VCU and The Beach.
The first six and a half minutes of the second half saw nine lead changes but The Beach would eventually pull away, going up 71-65 at the 10-minute mark in the second half.
Tennesse transfer senior forward Olivier Nkamhoua put in 21 points for the Wolverines, but it was not enough to overcome The Beach’s stellar shooting performance of 56.1% from the field and 47.1% from three.
Junior forward Aboubacar Traore filled up the box score for The Beach with 15 points, four steals, four blocks and four rebounds.
Up 87-85 with 23 seconds to go, senior guard Messiah Thompson missed the first free throw of a one-and-one, but Traore slipped past the Michigan box-out for an easy put-back layup to put The Beach up four.
The Wolverines ran out of time and could not catch up as The Beach earned their second win in a row over a Power Five team.
The Beach looks to ride this wave as they take on Illinois State at a neutral site in Fort Myers, Florida in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 20.
