Feb. 11, 2010

Box Score

Marquette, Mich. - Grand Valley State fought from behind at Northern Michigan on Thursday night (Feb. 11) and held a second-half lead, but the Lakers were unable to finish off the Wildcats, falling 83-80. GVSU trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and battled all the way back to lead Northern Michigan before the Wildcats closed the game with five throws in the final two minutes for the win.

It was the second time NMU has knocked off the Lakers in the past two weeks, as the Wildcats collected a 61-58 win over Grand Valley State on Jan. 30 in Allendale. The loss puts GVSU at 17-5 overall with a 13-4 record in the GLIAC, while Northern Michigan improves to 10-11 on the year and 7-10 in conference play. It was the Lakers' first road loss since Dec. 12 at Findlay, snapping a six-game road win streak.

The game was tied at 3-3 before NMU put together a 11-0 stretch, pushing out to a 14-3 lead just four minutes into the game. Grand Valley State, however, continued to chip away at the lead, as the Wildcats would go ahead by 16 points at 33-17 with with just over five minutes remaining in the half. NMU led 42-28 before the Lakers closed the opening period with an 8-1 run. Junior Mike Przydzial knocked down a jumper, then made a pair of free throws, which were followed by two freebies from freshman Nick Carreri. When Justin Ringler scored on a layup with right before the buzzer, the Lakers had cut the score to 43-36 at halftime.

Northern Michigan nearly shot the lights out in the first half, connecting on 50.0 percent of its field goal attempts and making 6-of-10 three-pointers. GVSU shot just 34.5 percent in the half, but made 14-of-18 free throws to stay within striking distance. The Lakers also owned a 23-9 edge in bench points, as sophomre Nick West scored 11 points in the opening half.

GVSU trailed 50-38 early in the second half, but scored six straight points on a triple from Carreri and an old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore Wes Trammell to cut the score to 50-44 with 16:44 remaining. Northern Michigan would stretch the lead out to 15 points at the 10:56 mark before Grand Valley State made its run to get back into the game.

West threw down a slam dunk and followed the jam with four straight four throws to get the Lakers within single digits. Sophomore Alvin Storrs then scored on a layup and junior K'Len Morris drained a three-pointer to get GVSU within four points at 71-67 with 7:52 left. Morris would sink another triple try, which were followed by two Ringler free throws to put the Lakers behind by a single point at 75-74 with 5:38 remaining.

Minutes later, Carreri scored on a layup to tie the score at 78-78 and a layup from freshman Breland Hogan gave Grand Valley State its first lead of the game with 2:19 left. NMU's Mylan Murphy made 3-of-4 free throws in a 40-second span, putting the Wildcats back on top, 81-80, with 57 seconds remaining. The Lakers, however, turned the ball over on their next two possessions and Northern Michigan made two more free throws to push ahead 83-80 with two seconds left in the game. Ringler's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer was off target and the Wildcats escaped with the win.

NMU shot 50.0 percent from the field and knocked down 10-of-17 three-pointers for a 58.8 percent mark. The Huskies also made 25-of-31 free throws, while GVSU knocked down 23-of-29 attempts. Grand Valley State shot well with a 46.3 percent clip and made 7-of-17 triple tries.

The Lakers were unable to garner a victory despite a gigantic 57-9 edge in bench points, capped off by West's career-high 23 points. West made 5-of-6 field goals and was 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. He added four rebounds in 25 very productive minutes off the bench.

Morris added a season-best 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including four three-point field goals. Ringler totaled 12 points, nine rebounds, and three assists, while Carreri scored nine points off the Laker bench.

Grand Valley State returns to action on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13) as the Lakers continue their road trip through the Upper Peninsula. GVSU will meet up with Michigan Tech for a 3:00 p.m. contest in Houghton.