Feb. 18, 2010

Box Score

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - Trailing by a point heading into the final minute at Lake Superior State on Thursday night (Feb. 18), Grand Valley State made 7-of-8 free throws, including a pair of freebies from freshman Breland Hogan with 1.5 seconds left to pull out the tough 75-73 win over LSSU. Grand Valley State had four players in double figures, connected on 23 free throws, and made 56 percent of its shots in the big road victory.

The win pushes Grand Valley State's record to 18-6 overall and 14-5 in the GLIAC, while Lake Superior State falls to 12-12 on the year and 10-9 in league play. In the latest Midwest Regional rankings released on Wednesday, GVSU was slotted third, while LSSU fell out of the top-10 after being ranked seventh last week.

Early on in the game, Lake Superior State jumped out to an 11-4 lead and extended the advantage to 18-10 with 12:56 remaining. LSSU kept the pressure on by knocking down 7-of-14 three-point attempts in the first half and went ahead by a dozen points at 33-21 at the 6:36 mark. However, Grand Valley State would get back into the game by not allowing another LSSU point and scoring the final 15 points of the half.

Junior Justin Ringler, the most recent member to GVSU's 1,000 point club, scored on a layup to start the run, which was followed by a three-point play from freshman Tony Peters. Ringler then scored on another layup and sophomore Nick West knocked down a pair of free throws to pull Grand Valley State within 33-30. The final three buckets of the half were scored by freshmen, as Peters converted a layup, Nick Carreri scored on a layup, and Hogan's jumper at the halftime buzzer made the score 36-33 in GVSU's favor at halftime.

Both teams shot very well the entire night. Grand Valley State shot 53.8 percent from the field, but were 0-of-6 from three-point range in the first half. Lake Superior State stayed in the game with seven triples in 14 attempts and LSSU shot 50.0 from the field, as well. GVSU owned a 24-6 edge in points in the paint and made 8-of-11 free throw attempts.

Grand Valley State held a lead for the first 13 minutes of the second half and used a three-pointer from sophomore Wes Trammell to move ahead 54-46 with 10:32 remaining in the half. LSSU rallied back to tie the score at 56-56 with a 10-2 run and re-gained the lead at 60-58 with 6:36 left in the game.

With 1:42 remaining, a Lake Superior State three-pointer made the score 69-65. Hogan answered on GVSU's next possession with a triple of his own to cut the lead to one point. Moments later, after LSSU missed a free throw, sophomore Alvin Storrs was fouled and sank a pair of free throws to put Grand Valley State ahead 70-69. Lake Superior State turned the ball over on its next possession and Storrs ending up making two more free throws for a 72-69 lead.

A bucket from LSSU cut the score to 72-71 and Hogan split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to up the lead to 73-71. With two seconds left, Lake Superior State's Kyle Hunt shook free and scored on a layup to tie the game at 73-73. However, on the inbounds pass, Hogan was fouled with 1.5 seconds left, and the freshman point guard sank both free throws to give GVSU a 75-73 lead that would hold up for the victory.

For the game, Grand Valley State shot 55.6 percent from the field and connected on 23-of-30 free throws for a 76.7 percent clip. Lake Superior State drained 12-of-25 three-pointers and made 54.0 percent of its field goals, but only attempted 12 free throws, making seven freebies. GVSU owned a 32-18 edge in the paint and an 18-11 edge in points off turnovers.

Ringler tallied a game-high 20 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and it was his first game of at least 20 points since Jan. 7 against Saginaw Valley State. Hogan notched a career-high 12 points, making 3-of-4 field goals and 5-of-6 shots at the charity stripe. Eight of his 12 points came in the second half, including six points in the final 1:43 of the game.

West totaled 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and grabbed four rebounds in 27 minutes off the GVSU bench. Junior Toreau Brown added 11 points on 5-of-10 from the field. Storrs, making his first start since Nov. 30, added eight points and five assists without a turnover in 25 minutes.

Grand Valley State finishes its four-game road trip with a 7:00 p.m. game at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday night (Feb. 20).