Jan. 20, 2011

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State was able to overcome an athletic and hot-shooting Northern Michigan team on Thursday night (Jan. 20), as the #18 Lakers knocked off NMU by a 72-60 score at Fieldhouse Arena. GVSU forced 20 Northern Michigan turnovers and notched a 24-8 edge in points off turnovers, but a 17-5 run midway through the second half was the turning point and enough to push the Lakers to a 10-0 record at home this season.

With the win, Grand Valley State improves to 14-3 on the season and 9-1 in GLIAC play. Dating back to last season, the Lakers have won 12 straight games at Fieldhouse Arena. Northern Michigan falls to 6-10 on the year and 1-8 in league play. The Wildcats shot 54.8 percent from the floor and made 8-of-18 three-pointers, but GVSU shot well enough (45.8 percent from the field, nine made triples) to overcome NMU's strong shooting.

The Lakers played without backup center Nick Waddell, who was averaging 8.8 points per game, fourth-most on the team. Northern Michigan was unable to take much of an advantage of Waddell's absence down low, as the Wildcats only had a 28-26 edge in points in the paint. GVSU held its own in the post and owned the 16-point advantage in points off turnovers, a huge 31-10 edge in bench points, and an 18-9 advantage in second chance points.

Northern Michigan led 7-6 early before the Lakers went on a 13-2 run which featured two long three-pointers from K'Len Morris from well beyond the arc and another trifecta from Wes Trammell. After GVSU's fourth triple of the game, coming at the 7:33 mark, the home team was on top by a 24-14 count. NMU rallied and nine straight points to cut the deficit down to a single point at 24-23 with 3:14 left in the half.

Grand Valley State scored on a jumper from Justin Ringler with 47 seconds remaining and got a putback jumper from Alvin Storrs at the halftime buzzer to go into the intermission with a 32-28 lead. NMU shot 60.0 from the floor in the first half, while the Lakers connected at a 42.9 percent clip. GVSU was able to take the lead into the half with a 15-3 edge in bench points.

An early layup from sophomore Breland Hogan and a triple from Storrs quickly put the Lakers out to a 37-28 lead just three minutes into the second half. Northern Michigan would stay within striking distance and trailed 49-42 at the 9:54 mark, which is when Grand Valley State began to make its run.

Five straight points from Storrs on three free throws and a layup pushed the lead out to a dozen points (54-42) and Morris drained another three-pointer just two minutes later. On GVSU's next possession, Hogan converted an old-fashioned three-point play on a layup and a made free throw. Less than a minute later, James Thomas swished a three-pointer and the Laker lead had ballooned out to 18 points on the heels of a 17-5 spurt that put GVSU ahead 64-46 with 5:37 left.

That would be more than enough for Grand Valley State, as the Lakers also connected on 15-of-21 free throws in the game. Rebounds were tied at 26, but GVSU recorded a season-best 15 steals and dishing out 13 assists to just nine turnovers.

Leading the way for the Lakers was Storrs, who posted game-highs of 16 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Storrs shot 6-of-10 from the field and pulled down five offensive boards. Joining him in double figures was Morris, who was 4-of-6 from three-point range and totaled 12 points in just 15 minutes.

Ringler had a nice overall statline of nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. His four assists puts him into the GVSU top-10 in career assists, as he now has dished out 277 helpers in his career. Sophomore Nick Carreri totaled nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, while pulling down five boards and adding three steals and an assist. Thomas scored eight points, while Hogan provided six points, four assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 24 minutes.

The Lakers return to the home floor on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 22), as GVSU will face #8 Michigan Tech at 1:00 p.m. in Fieldhouse Arena.