Clintonville freshman breaks college record

It didn’t take long for Aiden Polzin to make his mark on the Lakeland University men’s basketball team.

The freshman from Clintonville set a new Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference single-game record Feb. 19 with 46 points in a 114-83 win over Edgewood College.

The 2020 Clintonville High School graduate scored the most points by a Lakeland player in more than 50 years.

Polzin’s total was the most points by a player in NCAA Division III in the 2020-21 season so far, surpassing the 43 points by Travis Jocelyn of the College of New Jersey in a Feb. 6 game against Stockton University. He also topped the old NACC single-game record of 45 points, originally set by Larry Welton of Aurora University in 2007 and tied by Marquis Turley of Dominican University in 2010 and Jordan Johnson of Concordia University Wisconsin last year.

The scoring outburst also was the seventh-most in Lakeland history and the most since Mike Hotz tied the school’s single-game record with 55 points against Maranatha Baptist in 1971.

Polzin made 16 of 24 shots from the field, including six of nine from three-point range, plus all eight of his free throw attempts. He also added a collegiate-best 11 rebounds.

Polzin scored 24 points in his collegiate debut against North Central (Minnesota) on Jan. 16, but had been quiet of late, averaging 5.8 points over the previous five games.

He scored 20 points alone in the first half against Edgewood after hitting seven of 10 shots, including four three-pointers, as Lakeland built a 49-40 halftime lead.

He was even more productive in the final 20 minutes, making nine of 14 shots from the field and six of his free throw attempts.

Polzin reached the 30-point mark with two free throws with 12:33 left that put the Muskies ahead 72-57 and that began a run of 11 straight points for Lakeland. A personal 9-0 run included two three-pointers and a three-point play put him over 40 for the game and gave the Muskies an 81-60 lead with 10:13 left.

Polzin later added three free throws with 7:11 to play to reach 44 points and he nabbed the NACC record with a layup with 3:19 to play for his 45th and 46th points before exiting the game for good with 2:40 left.