Dec. 19, 2010

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - A battle of the two hottest teams in the GLIAC North Division turned into a sixth straight victory for Grand Valley State, as the #11 Lakers knocked off Michigan Tech 70-61 on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 19) in Houghton, Mich. Both teams had won five games in a row and were 4-0 in conference play, but GVSU used a solid team effort and a 32-3 advantage in bench points to earn a strong road victory in the Upper Peninsula.

Grand Valley State captured a very nice sweep of the U.P. schools, as the Lakers earned a 61-52 win at Northern Michigan on Saturday afternoon and followed with a second straight nine-point win at Michigan Tech. With the win, GVSU is now 9-1 on the year with a perfect 5-0 mark in the GLIAC, as the Lakers have won six straight contests. Michigan Tech falls to 9-2 on the year and 4-1 in conference play, as the Huskies' five-game win streak comes to an end.

While MTU may have outshot the Lakers from the field (46.3 to 45.1 percent), Grand Valley State owned a 33-22 rebounding edge and owned leads in all five speciality categories. The two biggest categories in GVSU's favor were bench points (32-3) and second chance points (17-2), which was aided by the Lakers' 11-3 lead in offensive rebounds. GVSU also lead in points in the paint (22-20), points off turnovers (22-11), and fast break points (8-0). Continuing what has been a strong shooting year at the foul line for the Lakers, Grand Valley State shot 20-of-23 from the charity stripe, including 16-of-19 attempts in the pivotal second half.

Things did not look good early for the Lakers, as Michigan Tech scored the game's first five points and led 11-3 before pushing out to a double-digit advantage at 16-5 with 12:18 to play in the half. Junior James Thomas started the small comeback with a jumper, which was followed by a three-pointer from senior Justin Ringler and a layup from sophomore Tony Peters. Ringler followed Peters' layup with one of his own and the Lakers were back to within a deuce at 16-14 at the 9:38 mark.

Michigan Tech pushed back out to a 26-18 advantage before GVSU answered with 10 straight points to earn its first lead of the afternoon. Sophomore Breland Hogan scored on back-to-back buckets - a jumper and a layup - and Thomas converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Husky lead to just one point at 26-25. Junior Nick Waddell then rebounded his own miss, scored on a layup, was fouled, and made the free throw for another three-point play and a 28-26 Laker lead. MTU tied the game at 28-28 before Thomas hit another triple and Hogan knocked down a jumper to put GVSU up at halftime by a 33-28 score.

Grand Valley State would not trail again after the five-point run at the end of the first half, but Michigan Tech certainly would not go away easily. The Huskies were within 41-37 before a layup from junior Alvin Storrs, a pair of free throws from senior K'Len Morris, and a jumpshot from Ringler to re-establish a 10-point lead at 47-37. Again, MTU would get back to within five points at 49-44, but the Lakers quickly weathered the run by receiving a trifecta from Morris and a jumper from freshman Asauhn Tatum, putting GVSU ahead 54-44 with over eight minutes left.

The Huskies would not get closer than five points the rest of the way, while Grand Valley State converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:32 of the game, including pairs of freebies from Tatum, Hogan, and Morris. GVSU made as many free throws in the second half (16) than Michigan Tech did in the entire game. While Michigan Tech shot 46.3 percent from the field and the Lakers made 45.1 percent of its attempts, the Lakers also had 10 more field goal attempts due to the 11-3 edge in offensive boards. Capitalizing off turnovers was key as well for GVSU. The Lakers forced 14 MTU miscues, but also turned the ball over 12 times themselves. Regardless, Grand Valley State owned a 22-11 edge in points off turnovers, a key figure in a tight conference game like this meeting.

Three Lakers reached double-figures in scoring, led by a team-high 15 points from Thomas, who shot 5-of-9 from the field and made both three-point attempts and all three free throws. Hogan came off the bench and played arguably his best game of the season. The point guard totaled a season-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, he made 5-of-6 free throws, and pulled down five rebounds. Hogan dished for three assists and recorded three steals, all without committing a turnover in 27 minutes of action.

Morris added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a blocked shot in a very complete statline after also playing well against Northern Michigan on Saturday. Ringler supplied nine points and a game-high six rebounds, while Tatum and Storrs each tallied six points and four rebounds apiece. Storrs was the third GVSU player with three assists.

Grand Valley State gets a well-deserved rest over the holidays until the Lakers head to Arizona on Dec. 30-31. GVSU will play again on Dec. 30 in Phoenix, Az., when the Lakers meet up with New Mexico Highlands at 2:00 p.m. ET.