Anderson, Landers suspensions lifted

By JERRY BURNES

Men’s basketball leading scorer Jake Anderson may have provided the spark his team needed and all he did was return to practice.

Anderson, along with teammate Jeremy Landers, was suspended on Jan. 30 for an unspecified violation of team rules. Head coach Ricardo Patton said the suspensions were day-to-day and the violation was not for academic or legal reasons.

Tuesday afternoon, Patton lifted the suspensions and the players returned to practice. Anderson was greeted by teammates, who mobbed him in celebration after finishing a drill. Landers returned later in the practice session.

“It’s just a coaches’ decision at this point,” Patton said. “We had a chance to visit with the two young men and we deemed it the appropriate time to bring them back to the team.”

Anderson will be available to play on Thursday at Ohio University but it will be a game-time decision to whether or not he will start. He had no further comment on a reason for the suspension.

“At this point its over,” Patton said.

Anderson is averaging 16.3 points per game and 5.5 rebounds in 18 games. Saturday’s game versus Bowling Green was the only game the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year has missed this season.

In his absence, Tyler Storm posted just three points and Mike DiNunno led the team with 15 points in the 69-61 loss.