March 21, 2007

Box Score |  Elite Eight-Tuesday  |  Game Pictures 

Springfield, Mass. - Grand Valley State saw its magical season come to an end Wednesday afternoon at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts when Barton College guard Anthony Atkinson hit a 30-foot three-pointer as time expired in overtime to give the Bulldogs an 83-81 victory. The Lakers conclude the 2006-07 season with a 29-5 record, while Barton advances to Thursday nights semifinal. Grand Valley State was making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA DII Elite Eight.

GVSU struggled to find its shooting touch in the opening 20 minutes and that trend continued early in the second stanza as Barton built a 47-36 lead with 16:24 left in the game. The Lakers battled back and started the comeback with back-to-back layups by Callistus Eziukwu and Pete Trammell. Senior guard Kyle Carhart hit a three-pointer to cut the Bulldog lead down to four (47-43) with 14:23 left. Barton upped its lead back to seven (50-43), before a 7-0 Laker run tied the game at 50-50. L.J. Kilgore hit a three, followed by four straight free throws by Mike Hall and Carhart. Both teams traded baskets from that point on as the largest lead in the closing 10:53 of regulation was three points. Carhart gave the Lakers a 64-61 lead with a layup at the 3:38 mark, but Barton quickly answered to tie the game at 64-64. Dan Redder tied the game at 68-68 with 1:17 left and good Laker defense forced an errant shot by L.J. Dunn with eight seconds left. GVSU's Mike Hall had a good look at a baseline jumper at the buzzer, but the shot just rolled around the rim and out to send the contest into overtime.

Barton scored first and took a 72-69 lead on a pair of free throws by Dunn. Senior center Dan Redder hit a layup and Mike Hall tied the game at 72 with a free throw. Redder put the Lakers up 74-73 with another layup, but Atkinson hit a jumper from the wing to give the Bulldogs a 75-74 lead. Carhart hit two from the charity stripe, but Bobby Buffaloe connected on a runner in the paint to give BC another lead (77-76). Junior guard L.J. Kilgore gave GVSU a 79-77 lead with a three-pointer of his own with a minute left, but Atkinson connected from three-point land to give Barton an 81-80 lead with 26 ticks left on the clock. Barton batted the ball out of bounds with six seconds left and the Lakers set up an inbounds play for Mike Hall in the low post. GVSU ran the play to perfection as Carhart hit Hall under the basket for a layup to give the Lakers an 81-80 lead with 4.2 seconds left. After a Barton timeout, Atkinson took the inbounds pass and dribbled up court where he pulled up to hit the game-winner. The game was tied 13 times and 17 lead changes occurred.

Senior center Dan Redder led GVSU with 21 points and nine rebounds, while fellow senior Mike Hall added a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Kyle Carhart chipped in 15 points and three assists. Combined, the senior trio scored 55 points and pulled down 21 rebounds. L.J. Kilgore scored nine points, all on three-pointers. GVSU converted 24-of-28 free throws on the day, but Barton was 11-of-18 from the three-point line.

Atkinson, a consensus first-team all-america selection, led Barton with 32 points and six assists.

Notes...Mike Hall recorded his third double-double of the year and concluded his career 24th on the Laker all-time scoring list with 1,149 points...Hall scored in double figures 55 times in his career...Dan Redder notched his third 20-plus point game of the year with 21 points vs. Barton. Redder scored in double figures 28 times in his two years with the Lakers and scored 584 points in his career...Kyle Carhart scored in double figures for the 11th time this season and 16th in his career. Kyle scored 523 points in his career...Callistus Eziukwu moved into a tie for 18th on the all-time blocked shot list with his 240th...GVSU is 55-9 the last two years and the Laker senior class finished with an 88-32 career record.