March 3, 2009

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State claimed a 67-49 victory over Ferris State Tuesday night at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in GLIAC Tournament first-round action and will now head to Findlay to square off against Lake Superior State. Tipoff versus LSSU is set for Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. GVSU fans can catch all of the action live on WMUS 106.9 FM beginning at 7:45 p.m.

Senior center Bobby Tiernan scored the first point for the Lakers from the charity stripe, followed by a Nick West layup and another free throw from Pete Trammell. Both teams struggled to score in a defensive first half. Ferris State went on a 13-2 run and led 13-6 at the 12:23 mark of the first half. Pete Trammell hit a three at the 11:13 mark and Justin Ringler scored on a layup to pull GVSU within two (13-11). The Laker defense held Ferris State without a point from the 12:23 to 7:03 mark and a pair of Nick West free throws tied the game. Ringler added a layup to give the Lakers a 15-13 lead before the Bulldogs scored from the charity stripe. The first half featured six ties and three lead changes. Ringler tied the game with 23 seconds left at 23-23 with two free throws.

Pete Trammell started an 8-0 run to open the second half with a three-pointer and a jumper, followed by a Jerret Smith three-pointer to give GVSU a 31-23 lead. The Bulldogs cut the Laker lead down to four (33-29) with 14:25 left, but back-to-back buckets from Bobby Tiernan and Mike Przydzial upped the Laker advantage to eight (37-29). Following a FSU free throw, freshman guard Wes Trammell hit a three-pointer and a jumper in the paint to give the Lakers a 42-30 lead. Ringler added a jumper from the free throw line to increase the Laker lead to 44-30 with 10:23 left. Ferris State would not go away and went on a 9-1 run to pull within six (45-39) with 8:03 left.

However, the Lakers answered with a 14-2 run, highlighted by nine points from freshman guard Alvin Storrs. GVSU built a 60-42 lead with 4:24 left and the Lakers' lead would eventually balloon to 20 (64-44) on a pair of free throws from Pete Trammell with 2:37 left. Grand Valley State outscored Ferris State 44-26 in the second half.

Pete Trammell led the way with 21 points and eight rebounds. The 21 points scored by Trammell was his fifth straight of 20 points or more. Justin Ringler added 12 points, while Alvin Storrs chipped in nine, all coming in the final seven minutes. The Laker defense held Ferris State to 23.1 percent shooting (12-for-52) from the floor, while GVSU hit 11-of-20 shots from the floor in the second half. GVSU also hit 26-of-38 free throws, including 19-of-25 in the final 20 minutes. The Laker bench outscored Ferris State 23-9. GVSU improved to 80-6 on its home court under head coach Ric Wesley and 9-2 in GLIAC Tournament action.