Nov. 13, 2010

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State had no problem with visiting Marygrove in the team's 2010-11 season opener on Saturday night (Nov. 13), as the #5 Lakers routed the Mustangs by a 109-55 count. It was the first time GVSU has cracked the 100-point total since Dec. 28, 2008, when the team also defeated Marygrove. 11 different Lakers scored in the game, with six players reaching double figures in points.

In the season opener for GVSU (1-0), the Lakers were about as impressive as could be. Grand Valley State scored over 100 points for the first time since the 2008 season when it defeated the Mustangs by a 116-51 tally. GVSU owned large leads in every specialty statistic category, including points in the paint (60-24), points off turnovers (40-11), bench points (50-16), fast break points (21-2), and second chance points (16-8). The Lakers dished out 27 assists and drained 11 three-pointers. Grand Valley State's season-high in trifectas last season was seven triples and GVSU topped that in the first half alone (8-15).

Consecutive three-pointers in a 23-second span from newcomer James Thomas put GVSU up 10-2 in the first four minutes of the game. The Lakers would extend their lead to 27-15 and go on a 12-0 run from that point, using a pair of trifectas from junior guard Wes Trammell and two buckets (including a dunk) from freshman Asauhn Tatum to up the lead to 39-15 at the 4:35 mark. Later in the half with a 46-19 advantage, sophomore Tony Peters knocked down two three-pointers in 24 seconds to push out to a 33-point advantage (52-19), the team's largest lead of the first half.

GVSU would take a 53-24 lead into halftime, as the Lakers used a 30-4 advantage in bench points with nine different players scoring in the opening 20 minutes. Grand Valley State shot 55.3 percent (21-38) from the field and a terrific 53.3 percent (8-15) from three-point range. While dishing out 14 assists, GVSU forced 14 Marygrove turnovers and the team also had a 21-13 edge on the boards.

The scoring continued in the second half, as the Lakers led 61-34 with 16:16 to play. Grand Valley State would score the next 19 points of the game to push out to an 80-34 advantage. Thomas would score on two jumpers, senior Justin Ringler made a jumpshot of his own, and junior Nick Waddell converted a layup. Those points were followed by a tip-in from junior Alvin Storrs and back-to-back three-pointers from Trammell and Storrs. After an old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore point guard Breland Hogan and a layup from junior Nick Carreri (assisted by Waddell), the lead was at 46 points.

GVSU would push the lead out to 50 points on a handful of occasions and even 56 points in the final 30 seconds of the game. A jumper in the paint from sophomore Corey Jones put the Lakers at the 100-point mark for only the second time in the last five years. Carreri's layup with 34 seconds left were the final points for the Lakers, giving the team a 56-point advantage and an opening night total of 109 points.

Ringler led GVSU with 16 points and six rebounds, as he shot 7-of-13 from the field. He was closely followed by Thomas, who knocked down 6-of-10 shots (including 3-of-4 three-pointers) for 15 points in his Laker debut. Storrs added 12 points annd three steals, while Peters provided 12 points and four assists off the bench. Trammell scored 11 points and handed out a game-high six assists, while Hogan totaled 10 points and five assists without a turnover.

Tatum was also very solid in his first game at GVSU, scoring eight points (on two dunks) with five rebounds and three blocked shots. Carreri added nine points and tied Ringler with a team-high six rebounds. Waddell was the other Laker newcomer, scoring six points with five rebounds.

Grand Valley State returns to the court on Tuesday night (Nov. 16) against Spring Arbor in a non-conference game that begins at 7:00 p.m.