Feb. 21, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - #2 Grand Valley State led 30-17 at the half and never looked back en route to a 76-51 victory over Northwood Thursday night at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. GVSU upped its record to 29-0 overall and 17-0 in GLIAC action. The Lakers will close the regular season Saturday, Feb. 23 at Ferris State. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.

Northwood slowed the pace of the game and after falling behind by nine (16-7) early the Timberwolves pulled to within two (18-16). However, senior center Callistus Eziukwu hit a pair of free throws, followed by a dunk and a three-point play to up the Laker advantage to 25-17. Senior guard L.J. Kilgore hit a jumper in the paint and senior guard Jason Jamerson hit a three-pointer with two seconds left in the half to give GVSU a 30-17 halftime lead. GVSU outscored Northwood 12-1 in the final 6:42 of the first half.

GVSU maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half and built a 26 point lead (74-48) on a dunk by freshman forward Justin Ringler. Senior guard Tom Fellows closed the scoring with a driving layup.

Grand Valley State shot 53.1 percent (26-49) from the floor, while limiting Northwood to just 33.3 percent (18-54). Northwood was 9-30 from the three-point line, while the Lakers hit 5-of-12. GVSU was 19-28 from the charity stripe and outrebounded Northwood 36-29. The Lakers also outscored the Timberwolves 34-12 in the paint.

Eziukwu led GVSU with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Jason Jamerson added 16 points, five assists and thdree rebounds. Freer chipped in 11 points and six caroms, while Pete Trammell added 10 points and five rebounds.

Notes...Grand Valley State has won a school-record 29 straight games. In addition, the 29 straight wins to open a season is the best start for any NCAA college in the state of Michigan...GVSU has won a school-record 33 straight regular season games and 27 straight home games.

GVSU is 85-9 since the 2005-06 season overall, including a 48-5 record in GLIAC action. Grand Valley State is 59-4 at home under Wesley, including a current school-record 27-game home court winning streak. Wesley has led GVSU to three straight GLIAC North Division titles (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08).

GVSU has held 21-of-its-last-27 foes under 55 points, including nine under 50 points...GVSU has held 6-of-its-last-11 opponents under 50 points and 15 straight foes under 58 points. Tiffin (12/30/07) was the last opponent to score 60 points (61)...Grand Valley State has nine players averaging double digits in minutes played and none playing more than 30 minutes per game.

GVSU has held 92-of-its-122 opponents under 67 points. 71 opponents have scored less than 60 points and 35 have tallied 50 points or less. The Lakers currently lead the nation in: Scoring Defense - 53.1 ppg. Scoring Margin - 22.9 Field Goal Percentage Defense - 35.9 percent