Shooting is Lane’s most attention grabbing skillset, but it’s not his best; his adaptability is. He shot the trey ball as well as anyone, but what separated him was that he remained a positive contributor even when the jumper went cold. Lane crashed the boards on offense and picked off passes on defense to get the ball back to the Wildcats. Same when his teammates had better matchups or were hot; he kept the offense flowing with his ball movement and found other ways to impact winning.

Despite knowing that they wouldn’t win on the boards, they did neutralize some of SG’s advantage thanks to Lane. While others were scrambling, he snuck into the paint for one rebound after another. The WilmingtonU pledge put a few points on the scoreboard as well, cashing a three and driving off the catch. And while Lane furthered his rebounding efforts in the fourth, he also knocked down a few free throws to finish with a 12-point double-double.

Lane is poised to trade one Wildcat jersey for another this summer, but he put on for the Eastside on Saturday with a monster two-way performance. The WilmingtonU signee hit his first of three triples in the opening quarter, followed by multiple trips to the hoop. He got clean looks at the rim by picking off passes, crashing the boards, and attacking off the catch. That allowed him to be productive whether he was scoring or not. In total, Lane led the team with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 stocks (2s 1b).

One of Howard’s catalysts throughout the year, Lane came out aggressive and set the tone during the Wildcats’ dominant first-half performance, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the opening half. A strong and tough-nosed guard, he was effective both initiating offense and filling a utility role. He was dangerous spotting up off the ball on his way to knocking down four 3’s and also showed polish as a midrange pullup shooter. Lane scored efficiently within the flow of the offense, taking opportunities to get north/south off the bounce when appropriate. While not much of an individual shot-creator, his plug-and-play utility in the backcourt should translate smoothly to the next level.

Lane is both a well-rounded offensive player and a constant threat to go ballistic from beyond the arc. He’s a more than capable defender, but he has the potential to be a problem (for the other team) once he learns how to use his physical tools versus ball-screens.

Without necessarily adding to his game, Lane’s lethal consistency is what moved him up. In every setting, he’s almost guaranteed to hit (at least) a pair of threes, rebound well for his size, and add secondary playmaking. What’s different about his play recently is that he’s doing more of those things and his team is winning because of it. Lane keeps his foot on the gas and torches defenses from deep if they don’t get a hand up. When he grabs a board, he’s immediately pushing the pace with an outlet pass or taking it himself and exploiting a numbers advantage.

Bryson Lane seemingly couldn’t miss in the first half. The Delaware guard kept getting open and buried four triples. He cooled off a bit in the second half, but still hit another 3, making that 5 in total for the game. Although his squad lost, his talent was very evident.

Stats – 17 Points