SAULT-STE. MARIE–The Lake Superior State men’s basketball team has continued its momentum from last year to the present, where it reached the sweet 16.

They only lost one contributing member last season and were rewarded this year by being picked to finish first in the GLIAC.

They have sustained their position thus far, going 3-1, already including a win against the 7th nationally ranked team, Gannon.

“We have never been ranked in preseason during my tenure here as far as winning the conference. So this is a first for us, uncharted territory, so to speak. But you know, it’s exciting. It’s a, it’s a feather in their cap, but preseason rankings, I don’t put a lot of stock in that.

We try to recruit tough guys. It’s a sort of mirror of myself. Me, my players make fun of the fact that I was a 6′2 A center, you know, at the time. But you know, I like tough players.

So we are very deep. You know, we really love the pieces that we have. We have a squad of 18 players, which is more than ever before. So there’s a lot of key elements there. It’s a lot. But I would say it’s a good problem for a head coach” (Steve Hettinga).