Nov. 15, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - In its 2009-10 season opener on Sunday (Nov. 15), #13 Grand Valley State won a defensive battle with visiting Northern Kentucky, dropping the Norse by a 57-54 score in front of 959 fans in Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers made all six free throw attempts in the final 20 seconds to ice the game and survived a disputed three-point call to run their home-opening winning streak to 10 straight games.

Grand Valley State has won 11 straight season openers, in addition to its 10-game home opener streak. The Lakers are 1-0, while Northern Kentucky falls to 0-1. GVSU is ranked 13th in the preseason National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, while the Norse are just outside the top-25 of the same poll. In the Sporting News preseason poll, the Lakers are slotted seventh, while NKU is tabbed 17th.

The game was a defensive struggle from the opening tip. Neither team scored until junior forward Toreau Brown notched a layup at the 18:03 mark in the first half and the Lakers held NKU off the board until a jumper by Dustin Maguire with 16:00 remaining in the opening stanza to make the score, 6-2. Northern Kentucky took a lead midway through the half and pushed its advantage to 18-12 after a three-pointer from Yan Moukoury.

Grand Valley State began to peck away at the lead and after a fast-break layup from freshman Breland Hogan off of a steal from junior guard Justin Ringler, the Lakers were within a point at 22-21. Approaching halftime, Ringler rebounded a missed GVSU shot and banked in a jumper as the first half buzzer sounded, bringing Grand Valley State into the half trailing 26-24.

In the opening period, the Lakers shot 40.0 percent (10-of-25), while NKU connected at a 43.5 percent rate (10-of-23). Both teams committed five turnovers, while GVSU owned a 15-14 rebounding advantage.

The Lakers took their first lead of the second half on a layup from sophomore guard Alvin Storss to jump ahead 30-28. NKU would then go on a 13-4 run and looked as if it may pull away with a 41-34 advantage at the 12:39 mark. The Norse first took a 34-32 lead with 14:46 left and would not trail again until less than a minute remaining in the game. GVSU tied the score at 47-47 on a free throw from Brown and again at 49-49 after a pair of Ringler freebies with 2:44 remaining.

Ringler's running layup with 59 seconds left put Grand Valley State ahead for the first time since the 15:21 mark in the second half. With 21 seconds remaining and after a Northern Kentucky turnover, Brown would connect on two free throws, but NKU immediately answered with an old-fashioned three-point play from point guard Scott Bibbins. The layup and free throw made the score 53-52 with 14 ticks left in the game.

Perfect at the free throw line, Ringler knocked down two at the stripe, giving GVSU a 55-52 lead. On the other end, Northern Kentucky's Dustin Maguire drained a long jumper that appeared to be a three-pointer, but two officials both immediately ruled it a two-pointer, leaving NKU behind by a point (55-54) with four seconds left. After being fouled, Ringler finished the game with two more freebies and the Norse's final three-pointer was well off, giving Grand Valley State the hard-earned victory.

Ringler had a strong performance in the season-opener. Named to the Preseason All-GLIAC North Division Team, Ringler led all players with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, while draining all eight free throw attempts. he added four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and zero turnovers in 37 minutes. Brown was one rebound shy of a double-double, as he totaled 18 points and nine rebounds, while making 8-of-9 attempts at the charity stripe. Sophomore point guard Wes Trammell added six points on 3-of-5 shooting and did not commit a turnover in 30 minutes of play.

The Lakers shot 40.8 percent from the field (20-of-49), while Northern Kentucky went 42.0 percent (21-of-50) on field goal attempts. GVSU made 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) shots at the free throw line, while the Norse held a 32-29 rebounding advantage. Grand Valley State shot 0-of-10 from the three-point line, the first time the Lakers have not connected on a three-pointer since the inception of the three-point line in the mid-1980's. GVSU held the Norse to just 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) shooting from downtown.

Grand Valley State is next in action on Saturday, when the Lakers will host Cornerstone in a 7:00 p.m. game.