Dec. 18, 2011

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Allendale, Mich. - Senior Nick Waddell recorded his third double-double in four games on Sunday (Dec. 18) to lead the Lakers to a 67-60 win over visiting Northern Michigan. The big man had 21 points with 10 rebounds and three trifectas, a career-high and his first makes of the season from beyond the arc.

GVSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the start of the game and never looked back. Waddell led off the game with a three pointer only 48 seconds in, his first make of the season from three.  Less than a minute later, a tip-in from Waddell made it five straight points to start the game.

The Lakers pushed the lead out to nine only four minutes into the game, going up 15-6 on a layup from senior Mike Przydzial. The lead then moved out to 11 on a jumper from junior Breland Hogan to give the Lakers a 29-18 lead and GVSU went into the locker room with a 33-24 advantage.

Waddell and Hogan each had 10 points in the first half, Waddell going 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. GVSU shot 13 free throws in the first half while Northern Michigan shot only two. Hogan made his presence known with mostly mid-range jumpers, going 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe, all three of his field goals on jump shots.

Northern Michigan began mounting a comeback in the second half, cutting the lead down to five at the 12:17 mark at 46-41 after a three pointer from Haki Stampley. After five straight Laker points moved the lead back out to 10, the Wildcats used another run  to tie the game at 53 after Stampley converted all three free throws after being fouled on a shot from beyond the arc. GVSU finally took control after that with seven straight points, four from Waddell and three from freshman Ryan Sabin, who was fouled after stealing a cross-court pass and making a layup on a fast break.

The closest the Wildcats would get was within three at 60-57 with 2:40 to play, but GVSU would nail down the victory with their free throws down the stretch, hitting their last four to stay out of range of Northern Michigan and take the victory, 67-60.

Waddell led all scorers in the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, five offensive and five defensive. He shot 6-of-10 from the field (3-for-3 from three) and was 6-for-6 from the line. Hogan finished with 13 points and hit all five of his free throw attempts while Sabin finished with 12 points.

Northern Michigan was led by Stampley's 16 points while DeAndre Taylor had 15 points and seven rebounds. Preseason GLIAC First Team honoree Jared Benson was held in check all day by Waddell and the other Laker big men, finishing with only nine points and four rebounds.

GVSU moves to 6-2 on the season with the victory and 3-1 in GLIAC play while Northern Michigan falls to 4-5 on the season with a 2-2 mark in the conference.

The Lakers won't have long to rest as they will host the other upper peninsula squad, Michigan Tech, on Monday at 7 p.m. at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.