Feb. 22, 2006

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State outscored Saginaw Valley State 38-20 in the second half and went on to claim a 70-55 GLIAC victory Wednesday night at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. GVSU, which claimed the GLIAC North Division title with the win, improved to 23-3 overall and 15-2 in GLIAC action. The Lakers extended their overall winning streak to 13 games and the 23 overall wins are the most since the 1996-97 team won 23 games. In addition, the Lakers' 15 GLIAC wins is a school record. GVSU will host Ferris State in the regular season finale Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Lakers fell behind 8-0 early and found themselves climbing up hill for the rest of the half. GVSU tied the game four times, but were never able to get a lead in the opening 20 minutes. SVSU's Anrae Betts hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left to give the Cardinals a 35-32 halftime lead. Freshman guard Pete Trammell gave GVSU its first lead (42-41) at the 15:41 mark of the second half with a pair of free throws. Courtney James hit a jumper to put the Lakers up three and sophomore guard Jason Jamerson drilled a three-pointer to give the Lakers a 47-41 lead. Senior guard Jeff Grauzer then started his own little run with a pair of free throws at the 11:37 mark. Grauzer hit a jumper and converted a three-point play for the final of his seven straight points.

"I thought Jeff Grauzer did an outstanding job for us tonight," said second-year head coach Ric Wesley. "Jeff really gave us a lift and he had a three minute stretch that helped us build a lead that we kept for the remainder of the game," added Wesley.

L.J. Kilgore, Callistus Eziukwu and Dan Redder scored the final six points of a 10-0 run that gave the Lakers a 60-46 lead. The Lakers hit 8-of-12 shots during that 25-9 spurt that keyed the Laker win.

"I'm really proud of how we battled tonight," said Wesley. "We didn't get our first lead until the second half, but we just continued to play great defense and it was a great effort to hold Saginaw Valley State to just 20 second half points," added Wesley.

Jason Jamerson led GVSU with 15 points and six rebounds. Courtney James added 12 points, three assists and three steals, while Callistus Eziukwu chippled in 10 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Pete Trammell and Dan Redder added eight points, while Jeff Grauzer tallied seven. The Lakers outrebounded the Cardinals 36-28, recorded 12 steals and blocked nine shots. GVSU held a 22-4 advantage with points in the paint, outscored SVSU 19-4 in points off turnover and scored 10 fast break points to the Cardinals' zero.

Grand Valley State has now won 12 straight games versus Saginaw Valley State and have won every game at home versus the Cardinals since the 1993-94 season. GVSU has held 19-of-26 opponents under 66 points and 16 of 26 under 56 points this season. In addition, GVSU has held 38-of-53 opponents under 67 points during the Ric Wesley era.