If home court advantage is the greatest weapon in college basketball, then winning on the road must be college hoops’ equivalent to having your wisdom teeth pulled.

Throughout this season we’ve seen the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team show its strengths and weaknesses.

At times, they’ve had stretches where they’ve lived on 3-pointers and others where they’ve force-fed senior center Nick Waddell in the paint, both of which have seen their fair share of successes.

They’ve also had times where senior guard James Thomas, arguably the GLIAC’s best shooter, has carried an inconsistent offense with his ability to score in a variety of ways.

Then there’s today, where the offense has sputtered and the production of Waddell and Thomas has slowed. An offense that regularly scored between 60 and 70 points during the season’s first half, the Lakers have topped 60 points only once since the new year.

Part of that can be assessed to the team’s overall youth and inexperience, but it can also be attributed to playing on the road.

Playing seven of their last nine on the road, the team has struggled to get off to a strong start in games and has struggled to score from the perimeter, something they lived off of in the non-conference season.

Maybe it’s the old thought that every rim in every gym has a mind of its own, maybe it’s the law of averages catching up to the team.

Or maybe, and stick with me on this one, it’s a lack of in-game consistency for the team that’s causing the struggles.

Throughout the season head coach Ric Wesley has applauded his team’s effort and attitude in practice, which is something any successful team needs to have in the sometimes monotonous regular season.

Successful teams also need that consistency within the game. Slow starts are going to plague any offense, home or road, but the fact is if these inexperienced Lakers want to make a run in the GLIAC Tournament, they’re going to have to learn to win on the road.

Looking back, their biggest win this season game on the road, a Jan. 21 win at Michigan Technological University where they jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back.

This team has the potential to make a run, but that run is likely going to have to be done on the road.

Unless Waddell can figure out a way to avoid his current flirtation with the foul fairy and Thomas can get his offensive flow going early on, those woes aren’t going anywhere — and neither will the Lakers come March.

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