Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State rallied from 14 points down in the first half and used a game-winning jumper from Alvin Storrs with 1.4 seconds left in overtime to defeat Northwood, 72-70, on Saturday night (Feb. 27). The Lakers tied the game with three seconds left in regulation on a Justin Ringler layup, setting the stage for Storrs' dramatics in the extra session.

With the win, GVSU improves to 20-7 on the year and 16-6 in the GLIAC, reaching the 20-win plateau for the fifth straight season. Northwood drops to 12-14 overall and 9-13 in league play, as the Timberwolves were eliminated from the GLIAC Tournament with the loss. Grand Valley State will be the #2 seed in the conference tourney, hosting Wayne State on Tuesday night (Mar. 2) at 8:00 p.m.

The Lakers led 4-0 after a bucket from junior Mike Przydzial and a pair of free throws from Ringler and were on top 13-6 after another Przydzial jumper with 11:50 left. GVSU was on top, 19-16, with 7:27 remaining before Northwood scored the game's next 15 points over five minutes to take a 31-19 lead. The Timberwolves led by as many as 14 points before heading into halftime with a 37-26 lead.

Northwood shot 53.6 percent from the field in the first half, including 5-of-11 from three-point range, while the Lakers connected on 44.0 percent of its attempts. GVSU owned edges in points in the paint (20-12) and bench points (9-0), but the Timberwolves led in points off of turnovers (10-3) and second chance points (9-2). NU's Lionel Sullivan and Chris Johnson each had 14 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Grand Valley State slowly began its comeback in the second half. Trailing 49-39 with 14:39 left, the Lakers received four straight buckets from Storrs, Przydzial, Toreau Brown, and Wes Trammell to cut the Timberwolf lead to 49-47 at the 9:40 mark. Northwood then pushed the lead back up to eight points on three occasions and led 60-52 with just over five minutes remaining.

A three-pointer from Ringler and a layup from Storrs brought the Lakers to within 61-60 with 1:24 left. For Northwood, Johnson would split a pair of free throws with 1:07 remaining to take a 62-60 lead. After five consecutive missed free throws, Northwood still held a two-point advantage before Ringler freed himself inside the paint and scored on a layup with three seconds left in the half, tying the game at 62-62, and sending it to overtime.

GVSU scored the first three points of the extra session on free throws from Brown, giving the Lakers their first lead since the 7:27 mark of the first half. Johnson then scored four straight points for Northwood on a jumper and two freebies to put the Timberwolves on top, 66-65. Trammell's three-point attempt scorched the net with 1:39 remaining for a 68-66 Laker lead. Johnson again tied the score for NU with two free throws, but Ringler answered with a pull-up jumper at the elbow with 54 seconds left to put GVSU back on top, 70-68.

Johnson came down for Northwood and hit a tough shot inside the paint for the Timberwolves to knot the score at 70-70 with 34 seconds remaining. The Lakers got the ball to Storrs near the elbow, as he turned and faced the basket, then drained a jumper from just outside the key to give Grand Valley State a two-point advantage at 72-70. Northwood sailed a desperation pass down the court, which was knocked away by several Lakers, as the Timberwolves were unable to get a shot off in the final seconds.

Both teams shot the ball very well, with Grand Valley State making 50.0 percent of its attempts and Northwood connecting on 49.1 percent of its shots. The Lakers made six three-pointers, while NU drained 8-of-20 attempts. Northwood was 10-of-19 from the free throw line, but all nine misses came in the second half, five in the final 67 seconds of the stanza. GVSU had a massive 21-0 edge in bench points, while owning edges in points in the paint (36-26), points off turnovers (22-13) and fast break points (6-0).

Storrs led the Lakers with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. He added two steals in 32 minutes of play, not committing a turnover. Ringler added 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists, while Brown totaled nine points, four boards, and a pair of steals. Przydzial tallied eight points and five rebounds, while Trammell connected for eight points off the bench. The Lakers were able to overcome 27 points and eight rebounds from Johnson and 25 points and seven boards from Sullivan, as Northwood's duo combined for 52 of the team's 70 points.

The Lakers will host Wayne State on Tuesday night (Mar. 2) at GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in an 8:00 p.m. contest. After defeating the Warriors 57-48 on Jan. 23 in Detroit, WSU earned a dose of revenge this past Thursday night in Allendale, defeating GVSU by a 70-56 score.