Jan. 31, 2008

Box Score

Hillsdale, Mich. - #2 Grand Valley State held Hillsdale College 32 points below its season average en route to a 66-50 GLIAC road win Thursday night. GVSU upped its overall record to 23-0 and its GLIAC mark to 11-0. The Lakers will conclude its four-game road trip Saturday at Ashland University. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

Grand Valley State held Hillsdale College to just three points through the first 9:07 of the contest. The Chargers hit a three at the 18:06 mark and did not score again until a bucket with 10:53 left in the opening period. Senior guard Jason Jamerson scored eight of GVSU's first 12 points. His layup at the 10:05 mark gave the Lakers a 12-5 lead. Senior guard Joel Whymer hit a three-pointer with 3:25 left to give the Lakers their largest lead of the first half (23-15). The GVSU bench outscored Hillsdale 11-0 in the opening half and the Laker defense held the Chargers to just 30.0 percent shooting from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Hillsdale was 1-14 from the 3-point line.

Hillsdale's shooting woes continued in the second half, due in large part to the nations top scoring defense. Hillsdale hit just 6-of-21 shots from the floor, including just two two-point buckets. The Chargers scored 16 points from the floor and 14 from the charity stripe.

Jamerson hit a three-pointer to open the second half to build the Laker lead to 10 (30-20), but an 8-2 run by Hillsdale cut the GVSU lead down to four (32-28). That is as close as Hillsdale would get the rest of the way. Callistus Eziukwu scored on a layup and was fouled. Eziukwu completed the thre-point play, followed by a three-pointer from Jamerson. Another layup from Eziukwu and a three by Pete Trammell completed an 11-0 run and gave the Lakers a 43-28 lead. Hillsdale was never able to get any closer than 10 points (43-33) in the final 16:15.

Grand Valley State senior center Callistus Eziukwu led the way with his sixth straight double-double (16 points and 11 rebounds). Jamerson led the Lakers in scoring with 17 points, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Freshman forward Justin Ringler added nine points and four rebounds, while senior forward Nick Freer chipped in seven points and six rebounds. GVSU outrebounded Hillsdale 40-38 and limited the Chargers to just 29.4 percent shooting from the floor.

Notes...Grand Valley State has won a school-record 23 straight games. In addition, the 23 straight wins to open a season is the best start for a DI or DII school in the state of Michigan.

GVSU's current 23-game winning streak is the longest in school history...GVSU has also won 27 straight regular season games...GVSU has held 87-of-its-last-116 opponents under 67 points. 66 opponents have scored less than 60 points and 34 have tallied 50 points or less. The Lakers currently lead the nation in points yielded per game (53.3). GVSU ranks second in field goal percentage defense (36.7) and third in scoring margin (21.9). GVSU is 10th in field goal percentage (50.9)...Jason Jamerson moved into fifth in all-time points with 1,504. Callistus Eziukwu moved into ninth in all-time points (1,434).