Feb. 13, 2010

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - In a defensive battle on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 13) in Houghton, Mich., Grand Valley State dropped a 53-46 decision at Michigan Tech for its second straight road loss. The Huskies led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but GVSU rallied to get within 47-44 in the final two minutes before MTU scored six of the game's final eight points for the victory.

Grand Valley State was ranked second in the latest Midwest Regional rankings, released on Wednesday, but dropped a tough 83-80 loss at Northern Michigan on Thursday night, starting an 0-2 trip to the Upper Peninsula. The loss on Saturday puts the Lakers at 17-6 overall with a 13-5 record in the GLIAC. Michigan Tech improves to 8-15 on the year with a 7-11 conference tally. On Jan. 28 in Allendale, GVSU captured an easy victory over the Huskies, 59-42, but MTU earned its revenge on Saturday.

After four points from junior Justin Ringler and a pair of free throws from sophomore center Nick West, the Lakers led 8-3 early at the 15:20 mark. Michigan Tech bounced back to hit three consecutive three-pointers and take a 12-8 advantage over GVSU. The Huskies upped the score to 19-10 with 7:21 left, although the Lakers cut the score to four points behind two more free throws from West and an old-fashioned three-point play from junior Mike Przydzial with 5:33 remaining.

A pair of free throws from West with 1:11 left were the final points of the first half, as MTU took a 23-19 advantage to the halftime break. In the first half, Grand Valley State shot just 23.5 percent from the floor on 4-of-17 shooting, but the Lakers stayed in the game by making 11-of-12 freebies. Michigan Tech connected on 36.4 percent of its shots and made 4-of-8 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

MTU opened up the second half with an 11-4 run to push its lead to 11 points at 34-23 with just over 15 minutes remaining. The Huskies extended their advantage to 14 points on a pair of occasions in the second half, including a 43-29 score with under nine minutes to play. On Grand Valley State's next possession, Ringler drained a pull-up jumper at the 8:18 mark to make the score 43-31. The bucket gave Ringler 1,001 career points as a Laker, becoming the 31st player in school history to accomplish the feat.

After the Huskies jumped back ahead 45-31, GVSU scored the next 10 points and got right back into the game. West and freshman Breland Hogan both scored on layups, which was followed by a three-point play from Ringler. On the Lakers' next trip down the floor, junior K'Len Morris buried a three-pointer to make the score 45-41 with 4:47 remaining in the game.

West's layup with 1:24 left cut the Husky lead to 47-44, but Michigan Tech made 4-of-6 free throws and used a 6-2 run in the final 49 seconds to close out the Lakers in what was an offensive struggle throughout the entire game. For the game, MTU shot 37.8 percent from the floor, while Grand Valley State connected on just 34.1 percent of its attempts. The Huskies made 5-of-14 three-pointers, while GVSU nailed just 1-of-8 triple tries. One area that the Lakers are always strong in is on the glass, but Michigan Tech owned a dominant 40-24 rebounding edge, including 11-3 on offensive boards. GVSU did force 22 Husky turnovers, while committing 15 miscues.

For the second straight game, West led the Lakers in scoring. After a career-high 23 points at Northern Michigan on Thursday, the sophomore center dropped 15 points on Saturday, making 9-of-14 free throws. Ringler totaled 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, as he was 5-of-11 from the field.

Grand Valley State returns to the Upper Peninsula next Thursday night (Feb. 18) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.