Jan. 22, 2009

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ALLENDALE, Mich. - Justin Ringler led Grand Valley State with a double-double, including a career-high 30 points, as the Lakers defeated Northwood 66-46 on Thursday night in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The sophomore also chipped in a game-high 11 rebounds in the win. Grand Valley State (12-4, 7-4 GLIAC) will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 24 against Wayne State in Allendale, Mich.

The Lakers shot 53.8 percent from the floor, connecting on 28 of their 52 shots from the field. Senior Pete Trammell chipped in 11 points, giving him 955 points and moving him closer to the 1,000-point plateau. Grand Valley State held the Timberwolves to 13-of-49 (26.5) shooting and did not allow any double-digit scorers.

Ringler, who shot 14-of-19 from the floor, started the scoring with a layup at the 18:28 mark of the first. He followed that up with a jumper in the paint and his third three-pointer of the year to put Grand Valley State up 9-3 with just more than 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Northwood took the lead at the 9:03 mark on a longball by Marcus Moore, but Ringler quickly tied the game at 19-19 with another jumper in the paint. With the score tied at 21-21 after a pair of jumpers, GVSU scored nine of the last 11 points of the half to go into the locker rooms up 30-23.

The Lakers scored 18 points in the paint during the first half, compared to just two for the Timberwolves. Northwood's bench chipped in with eight points, while GVSU managed two from the pine.

Freshman Wes Trammell drilled a three-pointer to start the second half, and a Ringler jumper at the 18:20 mark made the score 35-23 in favor of the Lakers. Senior Jerret Smith extended the lead to 15 points with a three-pointer at the 14:40 mark. Ringler continued to pour it on, scoring back-to-back buckets to make it a 19-point contest.

With 9:21 remaining in the game, sophomore Mike Przydzial tipped in a Pete Trammell miss to make the lead 20 points, 52-32. The Timberwolves never got closer than 14 points down the stretch and GVSU pulled out a 20-point win, 66-46. GVSU scored another 20 points in the paint during the second half and added another 11 from its bench players.