ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Lawrence Technological University men's basketball team returned from the holiday break in historic fashion, eclipsing the program's record for wins in a single season with a 79-75 victory over Rochester College on Wednesday, January 2, at the Garth Pleasant Arena. Senior guard Ty Searles (SR/Pontiac, Mich.) led a trio of Blue Devils with double-doubles, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Wednesday's victory over the RC was Lawrence Tech's first in program history. The win represented much more, though, passing the 2015-16 squads' win total of six. With one more win in conference play, the Blue Devils (7-8, 4-4), under the guidance of second-year head coach Joshua Pickens, would match the program record for wins against league foes at five.

Searles' double-double is his second of the season. The Pontiac native has scored in double figures every outing this season and is second in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference with 21.2 points per game. Devonte Myles (SR/Tampa, Fla.) hauled down a game-high 13 rebounds and chipped in 12 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Jalen Bethel(FR/Columbus, Ohio) went for 10 points and 12 boards. It was Myles' fourth double-double on the campaign and Bethel's third. Lawrence Tech had five scorers in double digits, rounded out by Carter Frantz (FR/Dansville, Mich.)' 11 and Alek Ivanovic (SO/Macomb, Mich.)'s 10.

LTU shot over 44 percent from the field, including hitting 11-of-29 from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils limited Rochester (11-8, 5-5) to just 9-of-35 from deep. Lawrence Tech controlled the glass, outrebounding the Warriors 45-33.

Rochester had a pair of 20-point performances in Kash Blackwell and Justin Nafso. Blackwell finished with a double-double, recording 11 rebounds. Nafso had four steals in the effort.

After falling behind 9-0 in the opening half, the Blue Devils settled into the game going on a 21-9 run to capture their first lead of the outing, 21-18, midway through the first.

Following a three ball from Ivanovic, Searles knocked down his second long ball of the game to extend the LTU advantage to four.

Lawrence Tech continued to push, going on 13-5 run late in the half to build a 42-31 lead with less than a minute in the half. The Warriors would answer with a pair of Nafso buckets to head to the locker room trailing LTU, 42-36.

Out of the break, Bethel and Searles gave the Blue Devils a double-digit advantage once again, but the hot shooting from beyond the arc from the first half would not carry over into the second for LTU. After hitting 10-of-20 in the first 20 minutes, Lawrence Tech hit just one three in the second frame.

Rochester's combination of Blackwell and Nafso, with some three-point help from Armand Cartwright, cut the LTU lead to 50-48 with just over 12 minutes to play.

The Warriors would not get any closer, though, than two.  Lawrence Tech built the spread back to nine, 75-66, heading into the final minute of play and would hold on for the 79-75 victory.

The Blue Devils return to action on Saturday, January 5, at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio. LTU is 4-9 all-time against Lourdes, including sweeping the Gray Wolves a year ago. Tipoff is set for 3 pm.