Jan. 22, 2011

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Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State received points from all 11 Lakers that played on Saturday (Jan. 22) and GVSU's bench enjoyed a 28-0 advantage in the team's 77-63 victory over visiting Michigan Tech. The Lakers shot 54.9 percent from the floor, including a 60.0 percent mark in the second half, as GVSU notched their 11th straight home win this season and 13th consecutive home victory overall.

The Lakers have won six of their last seven games and improve to 15-3 overall, while pushing their GLIAC record to a stellar 10-1 to start the year. Michigan Tech falls to 10-7 overall and 5-5 in the conference. While both teams played pretty equal in most categories, GVSU is simply a deeper team all the way through the roster. Grand Valley State owned a tremendous 28-0 edge in bench points and all 11 Lakers that suited up scored at least two points.

GVSU led in all five speciality categories, but the bench point advantage was the most significant. The Lakers owned a 32-16 advantage in points in the paint, a 23-16 edge in points off turnovers, a 10-3 score in second chance points, and Grand Valley State scored all 10 of the game's fast break points.

Michigan Tech jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the opening five minutes before the Lakers put together a 13-0 run that put GVSU ahead by a 17-9 score. The spurt included a pair of buckets from sophomore Corey Jones, a layup from senior K'Len Morris, and back-to-back fastbreak layups from junior James Thomas. A made jumper from junior Alvin Storrs at the 8:51 mark put the score at 17-9 midway through the half.

The Huskies kept the game close and the score was 21-17 before GVSU knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in a 38-second span to lead 27-17 with 3:44 left. Storrs and junior Wes Trammell each buried a triple to give the Lakers their first double-digit lead of the game. Leading 31-24 with under two minutes to play, senior Justin Ringler scored on a jumper, which was followed by a fastbreak dunk from Morris and another open court layup from sophomore Tony Peters. At the intermission, GVSU was on top by a 37-24 score.

Early in the second half, Grand Valley State used a 7-0 run on jumpers from Ringler and Thomas and a trifecta from Storrs to push out to a 46-29 lead at the 15:02 mark. Michigan Tech would keep fighting back and get the lead down to nine points (54-45) with 8:57 remaining, but GVSU extended the advantage out to 15 points (63-48) on consecutive buckets from Ringler and an old-fashioned three-point play from Storrs at the 6:17 mark. The Huskies would not get back within single digits the rest of the way, as Grand Valley State improved to 11-0 at home this season.

Ringler led the way for the Lakers offensively, as he totaled 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 at the charity stripe. He added four rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a game-high four steals. Storrs was the other GVSU player in double digits, as he was 5-of-8 from the floor for 13 points, while adding four boards, and a pair of assists.

Morris supplied nine points off the bench, as he made 5-of-7 free throws and noched three boards, two assists, and steal. Thomas scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and pulled down a team-best five boards to go with a block and a steal. Trammell knocked down a pair of triples and scored six points.

GVSU is off until next Saturday (Jan. 29) when the Lakers head to Van Andel Arena to face off with Ferris State at 8:00 p.m. in the 131 Showdown.