Jamestown Community College’s Traden Gray puts up a shot in the lane during Wednesday’s game against Lakeland CC at the Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Elhadji Thiam is a freshman.

Wednesday night he played like a veteran.

The 6-foot-7 forward poured in 32 points — 22 in the second half — to propel Lakeland Community College to an 87-78 victory over Jamestown CC in the season-opening NJCAA basketball game for both teams at the Physical Education Complex.

Thiam shot 10 of 17 from the field and 12 of 16 from the foul line, grabbed 10 rebounds, and added three assists, three steals and three blocks in 33 minutes.

Teammate LaJaidon Lipscomb added 23 points — 17 before the break — Landon Tillman chipped in 13 and Zach Wartley had 12.

That was enough for the Lakers to hold off the Jayhawks, who made things interesting down the stretch, cutting an 18-point deficit with eight minutes remaining to eight points with a shade under three minutes left, but that was as close as they could get.

Freshman Jared Martin led a balanced Jamestown CC attack with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. Sophomore Traden Gray added 13 points, nine rebounds and a block; and freshman Josiah Diaz and sophomores Bam Toure and Brian Fajardo all had 9 points.

But despite their spirited effort, the Jayhawks didn’t have an answer for Thiam, who capped his banner season opener with an emphatic dunk in the game’s final seconds.

“He’s a strong, strong kid,” Jamestown CC coach Xavier Churnac said. “He definitely hurt us. He’s a good player.”

The Jayhawks started the game slowly — Lakeland CC led 14-3 after five minutes –closed to within 39-31 with less than two minutes left in the first half and then saw the Lakers score five points in the final 20 seconds. When they walked off the court at the break, the hosts trailed 46-33.

“Giving them five points in 20 seconds wasn’t a good thing,” Churnac said.

It was an uphill climb the rest of the way.

“I know how hard we can play so that’s not a surprise to me,” Churnac said of the Jayhawks’ comeback attempt that came up just short. “If we could have done that for 40 minutes, the outcome would have been a little bit better. We were right there, but when you don’t start out right and play catch-up the whole time (it’s tough).”

Jamestown CC will be back in action Friday and Saturday at the Potomac State Tip-Off Classic in West Virginia.

LAKELAND CC (87)

Tillman 4-13 4-5 13, Thiam 10-17 12-16 32, Lipscomb 10-23 2-2 23, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Lane 3-4 1-2 7, Tackett 0-1 0-0 0, France 0-0 0-2 0, Harper II 0-0 0-0 0, Wartley 4-10 12. Totals 31-69 19-27 87.

JAMESTOWN CC (78)

Gray 5-11 3-4 13, Oliver 2-8 2-2 6, Martin 3-12 9-11 15, Chambers 4-6 0-2 8, Manero 0-0 0-0 0, Toure 3-8 3-4 9, Fajardo 3-4 0-29, Ransom 2-4 1-2 6, Perry 1-2 0-0 3, Diaz 3-8 3-5 9. Totals 26-63 21-32 78.

Halftime — Lakeland CC 46, Jamestown CC 33; 3-point goals — Lakeland CC 6-17 (Tillman 1-3 , Lipscomb 1-5, Thomas 0-1, Wartley 4-8), Jamestown CC 5-14 (Oliver 0-1, Martin 0-2, Route 0-3, Fajardo 3-3, Ransom 1-2, Perry 1-1, Diaz 0-2); Rebounds — Lakeland CC 41 (Thiam 10), Jamestown CC 44 (Diaz 11); Assists — Lakeland CC 17 (Tillman 8), Jamestown CC 14 (Martin 6). Steals — Lakeland CC 14 (Tillman 4), Jamestown CC 9 (Martin 4); Blocks — Lakeland CC 6 (Thiam 3), Jamestown CC 4 (Diaz 2); Personal fouls — Lakeland CC 21, Jamestown CC 19. Fouled out — Tackett.