Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State cut a 22-point deficit to just nine points midway through the second half on Saturday night (Nov. 21) at Fieldhouse Arena before visiting Cornerstone closed out the game with a 79-60 victory over the Lakers. The Golden Eagles owned a 41-27 lead at halftime and GVSU could not finish the potential comeback, as the Lakers fall to 1-1 on the season.

The Golden Eagles owned a 46-38 advantage in points in the paint and connected on 24-of-32 free throw attempts (75.0 percent), while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor. GVSU connected on 36.7 percent of its field goals, but struggled from three-point range (2-of-10) and at the charity stripe (14-of-24).

The Lakers jumped ahead 14-8 after a layup from junior Justin Ringler at the 12:22 mark, but Cornerstone then scored the next 14 points in less than four minutes to make the score 22-14. A layup from center Matt Kingshott capped a 27-3 run that put the Golden Eagles on top, 35-17, with 5:31 remaining in the opening half. Nick Carreri scored on a layup to close out the first-half scoring, putting GVSU down 41-27 at the intermission.

CU knocked down 45.2 percent (14-of-31) of its shots in the opening 20 minutes and led the rebounding battle, 26-18. The Golden Eagles also went to the line 16 times, making 11 of those attempts, while the Lakers struggled at the charity stripe (6-of-13) in the first half.

Facing a 22-point hole in the second half, Grand Valley State started a furious comeback. Carreri made a jumper, sophomore center Nick West drained a pair of free throws, and Ringler's three-pointer cut the lead to 49-34 with over 15 minutes remaining. After a Cornerstone jumper, sophomore Alvin Storrs knocked in a jumpshot, Ringler added a jumper of his own, Carreri drained a pair of freebies, and Breland Hogan converted an acrobatic layup to quickly cut the Golden Eagle lead to 51-42 with 12:05 left in the game.

GVSU got to within nine points again two minutes later, but Cornerstone answered by scoring seven of the next nine points and kept a double-digit lead the remainder of the game. The Lakers expended so much energy during their 15-2 run that it appeared they ran out of gas and Cornerstone held on and closed out GVSU late in the second half.

Three Lakers tallied double figures, as Ringler led the way with 13 points and seven rebounds. He added three assists and a pair of steals. West contributed 10 points and nine rebounds, while rejecting three CU shots. Carreri provided 10 points and seven boards off the GVSU bench in 20 minutes.

Grand Valley State has a quick turnaround, as it travels to Saint Joseph's (Ind.) for an 8:30 p.m. game on Tuesday night (Nov. 24).