Dec. 1, 2011

Box Score

Columbus, Ohio - Senior guard James Thomas recorded a double-double and scored a career-high 30 points as Grand Valley State claimed a 79-61 GLIAC road win at Ohio Domincan Thursday (Dec. 1) night. GVSU improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in GLIAC action. The Lakers will play at Tiffin Saturday (Dec. 3), with tipoff set for 3 p.m. All of the action can be heard live on 107.9 FM.

Ohio Dominican jumped out to an early 11-0 lead before the Lakers got on the scoreboard at the 16:12 mark with a pair of free throws from junior guard Breland Hogan. Thomas got a put back and freshman guard Ryan Sabin scored a layup following a steal to pull the Lakers within five (11-6). Ohio Domincan's Jake Mochoskay hit a three-pointer at the 10:42 mark of the first half to give the Panthers an 18-10 lead, but GVSU went on 10-0 run over the next 5:22 to tie the game at 20. Junior guard Tony Peters hit a three, followed by another three from junior guard Josh Anderson. Freshman forward Ben Lanning hit a jumper and senior center Nick Waddell tied the game at the 5:10 mark with a tip-in.

GVSU took its first lead of the game (24-23) on a jumper from Thomas and James then hit a three-pointer with five seconds left in the first half to give the Lakers a 30-28 lead heading into the lockerroom.

Sabin and Hogan each scored a layup early in the second half to give Grand Valley State a 34-28 lead, GVSU led 39-33 and 45-40 before the Panthers went on an 8-2 run to take a 48-47 lead on a three from Mochoskay at the 14:03 mark of the second half. However, Hogan scored a layup at the 12:44 mark to give GVSU the lead for good. Thomas followed with a three-pointer and a mid-range jumper and sophomore guard Rob Woodson gave GVSU a 56-48 lead with a layup.

ODU cut the Laker lead to three (56-53) at the 8:25 mark, but GVSU would outscore the Panthers 23-8 for the remainder of the game to secure the win. Anderson started the run with a pair of free throws, followed by a layup from junior forward Tyrone Lee. Anderson sandwhiched a pair of three-pointers around a layup from Lee and Hogan drilled a jumper to give the Lakers a 70-57 lead with 4:19 remaining. Thomas (5) and Hogan (4) combined for GVSU's final nine points.

The Lakers outscored ODU 36-26 in the paint, held a 24-14 advantage in points off turnovers and tallied a 23-9 advantage in bench points. GVSU hit 60.8 percent of its shots from the field (31-for-51) overall, including a sizzling 65.5 percent (19-for-29) in he second half. GVSU hit 10-of-16 three-pointers and outrebunded ODU 29-21. GVSU turned the ball over 17 times.

Thomas hit 12-of-15 shots from the field and 6-of-7 from the three-point line en route to his 30 points. James was 8-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 from three-point land in the final 20 minuts. In addition, he pulled down 10 rebounds. Hogan scored 12-of-his-14 points in the second half, while Anderson also reach double figures with 11 points. Sabin added six points and Lee chipped in five points and dished out a game-high three assists. All 10 Lakers that played in the game scored at least two points and all 10 played at least 10 minutes.

Morgan Jones led Ohio Domincan with 20 points, while Mochoskay added 12 points.