March 10, 2007

Box Score

Findlay, Ohio - Grand Valley State claimed it first NCAA DII Tournament victory since the 1990-91 campaign with its 85-75 victory over Quincy Saturday afternoon in Findlay, Ohio. GVSU, 27-4, will now play the winner of the Southern Indiana-Rockhurst game Sunday at 5 p.m. in the NCAA DII Great Lakes Region semifinals.

Grand Valley State and Quincy traded buckets for the first 10 minutes of the first half, but the Lakers went on a 13-3 run over a five minute span and built a 32-22 lead. Kyle Carhart scored five straight points on a three-pointer and driving runner in the paint. Callistus Eziukwu and David Thompson scored on a pair of layups, then Carhart and Mike Hall finished the run with back-to-back baskets. The Lakers led by as many as 13 points, but a Quincy tip in at the buzzer cut the Laker lead back to 10 (44-34).

"I thought we came out with a lot of energy," said thire-year head coach Ric Wesley. "We were able to get a number of guys involved in the offensive flow and then our second unit really did a nice job of keeping the pressure on Quincy," added Wesley.

GVSU's 44 points was the third most in the first half of a game this season and the Lakers shot 60.0 percent in the first half, hitting 18-of-30 from the floor. Dan Redder (4-4) and Kyle Carhart (4-5) converted a combined 8-of-9 shots from the floor for 17 points off the bench.

Quincy scored the first three points of the second half and trailed by seven (44-37), but that would be as close as they would get as a Jason Jamerson three-pointer pushed the GVSU lead back to 10. A dunk by Callistus Eziukwu gave the Lakers a 51-39 lead. Back-to-back three-pointers by Pete Trammell upped GVSU's lead to 13 (59-46) and the Lakers maintained at lead a 10-point cushion for the remainder of the game. Grand Valley State led by as many as 16 (84-68) in the second stanza.

"I am really pleased for our seniors and our entire basketball program," said third-year head coach Ric Wesley. "The groundwork for our first win in NCAA tournament action was laid last year and I wish those guys could be here for today's game," added Wesley.

GVSU shot 54.5 percent from the floor (30-55), 50.0 percent from the three-point line (8-16) and 70.8 percent from the charity stripe (17-24). The Lakers held a 34-25 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over just 11 times.

Jason Jamerson led the Laker scoring output with 20 points, while Callistus Eziukwu added 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Mike Hall chipped in 14 points, while Kyle Carhart added 14.