March 11, 2007

Box Score

Findlay, Ohio - #7 Grand Valley State made school history Sunday night in Findlay, Ohio as the Lakers claimed a 90-83 victory over Southern Indiana in NCAA DII Great Lakes Regional semifinal action. The Lakers' berth in the Great Lakes Regional title game (Sweet 16) is the first in school history. Grand Valley State will play the winner of the Northern Kentucky-Findlay semifinal Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Croy Gymnasium.

Grand Valley State senior forward Mike Hall scored on a layup at the 15:51 mark of the first half to give the Lakers a 6-5 lead, a lead GVSU would not give up for the remainder of the contest. Leading 21-18, junior center Callistus Eziukwu started a 10-0 Laker run with six straight points. Senior center Dan Redder scored in the paint and Eziukwu hit a pair from the charity stripe to give GVSU a 31-18 lead. Kenny Page of Southern Indiana hit a pair of free throw, but Eziukwu and Redder answered with back-to-back buckets to give the Lakers a 35-20 lead. Senior guard Kyle Carhart hit a runner in the paint with 3.5 seconds left in the first half to give Grand Valley State a 43-30 lead at the half.

"I thought we came out with great energy and played smart basketball in the first half," said third-year head coach Ric Wesley. "I thought we did a great job defensively of controlling both Southern Indiana's inside and outside game in that opening half," added Wesley.

Callistus Eziukwu tallied 14 first half points, while Dan Redder (9) and Kyle Carhart (8) contributed 17 combined points. GVSU hit 51.6 percent from the floor in the opening half (16-31), while USI hit just 42.9 percent from the field (9-21).

GVSU upped its lead to 17 (47-30) with consecutive layups by Eziukwu and Jason Jamerson just a minute into the second half. However, Southern Indiana began its comeback with a 17-8 scoring run of its own over the next five minutes and a Keith Christmas layup at the 13:50 mark cut the Laker lead to eight (55-47). With momentum clearly on USI's side, Jamerson answered with a huge three-pointer, followed by a three-point play by Dan Redder.

"The three by Jamerson and the three-point play by Redder came at a key juncture in the second half," said Wesley. "We really needed to answer that first run, but we also knew that they would make additional runs," added Wesley.

GVSU answered USI bucket for bucket over the next five minutes and a pair of free throws by senior forward Mike Hall gave GVSU a 71-56 lead with 7:32 left. Seven straight points by Southern Indiana cut the Laker advantage to eight (71-63), but Dan Redder hit a pair of free throws to up the lead to 10. Four quick points by USI cut the Laker lead to six (73-67), but Eziukwu started a 6-0 Laker run back-to-back layups, followed by a running jumper in the paint by Jamerson. The Screaming Eagles continued their comeback with consecutive three-pointers. A layup by USI's Kenny Love cut the Grand Valley State lead to three (84-81) with 44 seconds left.

"We did a nice job of staying composed and getting the ball in bounds and we were able to maintain that two possession lead when Callistus hit one of his two free throws," said Wesley.

Following the Eziukwu free throw, Jamerson hit a pair from the free throw line to give the Lakers an 87-81 lead with 23 seconds left. Hall and Jamerson hit on three-of-four attempts in the final 16 seconds to preserve the win.

"I am extremely pleased with the way we stayed together in some tough situation against an outstanding opponent," said Wesley. "Our senior leadership really took hold when Southern Indiana made its run and that was something we needed to do as a team," added Wesley.

Callistus Eziukwu scored a career-high 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games. Jason Jamerson added 20 points, Dan Redder 16 and Kyle Carhart 13. GVSU shot 56.4 percent from the floor for the game, including a sizzling 62.5 percent in the second half (15-24). The Lakers also hit 73.3 percent from the free throw line (22-30). Grand Valley State held a 38-30 advantage on points in the paint and a 31-18 advantage in bench points.

Notes...Grand Valley State's 28 wins are the most as a Divison II school and the second-most in school history. The 1976-77 team won 30 games as an NAIA member...GVSU head coach Ric Wesley is 73-18 at GVSU, including 55-8 in the last two years.