March 17, 2008

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#1 Grand Valley State used clutch shooting from the floor and free throw line Sunday night to capture a 62-58 victory over Northern Kentucky in NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional semifinal action. Grand Valley State, now 35-0, will host Findlay (28-4) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. Tickets will go on sale Monday morning in the GVSU Ticket Office located in the Fieldhouse.

Nick Freer opened the scoring when he took a high feed from Pete Trammell for a reverse dunk on the Lakers' opening possession. The Lakers continued its strong play when Trammell hit a pair of free throws with 2:12 remaining in the first half GVSU led 27-17. NKU's DeAaron Williams hit a pair of free throws and scored in the paint to pull the Norse within six (27-21) at the half.

Grand Valley State and Northern Kentucky traded baskets for the nine minutes of the second half, but a Jason Jamerson three-pointer at the 11:27 mark gave GVSU a 42-34 lead. NKU's DeAaron Williams hit back-to-back three's to pull the Norse within two (42-40) and a pair of free throws by Fill Finnell at the 8:15 mark tied the game (42-42). Williams, who entered the game having hit 11 three-pointers on the year, hit his fifth three-pointer of the night to give NKU a 45-42 lead. Junior forward Pete Trammell answered with a three of his own from the top of the key to tie the game (45-45). Williams then hit his sixth three to up the Norse lead to three yet again, but a pair of Justin Ringler free throws pulled the Lakers back to within one (48-47) with 5:07 left. NKU went back up by three when Finnell hit a driving layup, but Jamerson drove hard to basket and was fouled. Jason hit two free throws to pull GVSU within one (50-49) and L.J. Kilgore tallied a key steal to get the ball back with 3:03 remaining. Jamerson, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, hit a three to give GVSU a 52-50 lead.

Northern Kentucky's Mark Hawkins hit the ninth three-poiner of the night for the Norse to get the lead back (53-52)just moments later. Jamerson stayed aggressive and drove to basket again and found a cutting Ringler for a bucket in the paint. Jamerson blocked a three-point attempt and then hit a free throw to give the Lakers a 55-53 lead. A pair of missed free throws by the Norse was followed by a pair of made free throws from Jamerson. L.J. Kilgore added a pair from the charity stripe as the Laker defense continued to get stops. Two more Kilgore free throws upped the GVSU advantage to six with 37 seconds left, but Williams hit his sixth and final three to pull the Norse within three (61-58). Ringler hit another from the free throw line for the final margin.

"I feel so fortunate to get this win tonight," said fourth-year head coach Ric Wesley. "Northern Kentucky in an outstanding team and they did everything they needed to do to have a shot in the closing minutes. However, I want to give my guy credit as well because they did what needed to be done to get the win and get us into the regional title game Tuesday against Findlay," added Wesley.

Eziukwu led the Lakers with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Jamerson added 16 points, including eight in the final 3:36. Justin Ringler scored five of his nine points in the last 5:07, while L.J. Kilgore scored nine points and was 4-4 from the free throw line in the final 50 seconds. Pete Trammell scored six and Nick Freer four. GVSU held a 37-25 rebounding advantage and GVSU hit 23-of-30 free throws.

The victory was GVSU's 31st straight at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.