Dec. 19, 2011

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Allendale, Mich. - Christmas came early for the Laker men's basketball team and senior James Thomas was the one handing out gifts, hitting a game-winning three pointer with 14 seconds left in overtime and blocking a potential game-winning trifecta to lift the Lakers to a 70-68 victory over visiting Michigan Tech on Monday (Dec. 19).

In a game against the top team in the GLIAC North division, the Lakers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead against the conference unbeaten Michigan Tech after a lay-up from senior Nick Waddell and a three pointer from junior Breland Hogan.

GVSU pushed their lead out to eight points at the 16:31 mark after Thomas converted a three point play to put the Lakers up 10-2 and the Lakers held serve with an eight point lead up to the 11:11 mark when junior Josh Anderson hit a trifecta to make it a 22-14 Laker advantage.

Leading 26-18 with 7:19 to play in the opening half, the Huskies got two lay-ups from Mike Hojnacki to cut the lead to four and after a lay-up from freshman Ben Lanning, Michigan Tech got a three from Ben Stelzer and two free throws from preseason all-conference performer Ali Haider to cut the lead to 28-27 for GVSU. A jumper from Haider with 1:03 left gave Michigan Tech their first lead of the game at 29-28 but the Lakers answered back with a corner three from sophomore Rob Woodson. With 12 seconds left in the half, Austin Armga knocked down a trifecta to give the lead back to the Huskies, who entered the locker room with a 32-31 lead.

Armga did most of the damage for Michigan Tech in the first half, pouring in 10 points while Haidar had six points and four rebounds. Waddell was once again leading the Lakers, recording six points and two rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting while senior Mike Przydzial had six points and three rebounds in the first half.

Waddell started the second half strong, giving the lead back to the Lakers with a jump hook 35 seconds into the half but the Huskies then went on an 8-0 run to take back the lead and push it out to a seven point advantage at 40-33.

With the Huskies leading 44-37, the Lakers went on a run of their own, dropping in 11 straight points that included two trifectas from junior Tony Peters to give the Lakers a 48-44 lead with 11:45 to play.

The stretch also included two big lay-ups from true freshman Darius Norman, who was pressed into relief against Haidar due to foul trouble from the Laker big men.

Michigan Tech battled back to tie the game at 52 and held a 62-58 advantage with only 2:23 to play when the Lakers buckled down in crunch time. A three-second violation on Michigan Tech's Brian Olley resulted in a technical foul call after a brief argument, giving Thomas two free throws that he drained to make it a 62-60 game. After a missed jumper from the Lakers, GVSU got a shot clock violation against the Huskies that gave the ball back with 47 seconds left. Hogan then hit a mid-range jumper to tie the game at 62 with 43 seconds to play. Przydzial then knocked the ball away on an entry pass to Haidar and the Lakers had a chance to win, but a Hogan jumper from the free throw line rolled around the rim and out, sending the game to overtime.

In regulation, Haidar led the Huskies with 16 points and eight rebounds while Thomas led GV with 11 points, but was struggling from the field, shooting only 3-for-12.

The two teams exchanged three pointers to start overtime, Hogan hitting a long three only 28 seconds into the extra frame while Alex Culy answered less than a minute later to tie the game at 65.

Armga converted a three point play for Michigan Tech to send them to a 68-65 lead and was answered with a drive and lay-up from freshman Ryan Sabin to get the Lakers within one with 1:31 to play. After a missed jumper from Michigan Tech and rebound by Hogan, a Laker kick-out pass sailed out of bounds to hand the ball back to Michigan Tech with 49 seconds to play. With 20 seconds to play, junior Tyrone Lee came up with a big block, trapping a floater against the backboard that the Lakers came down with. GVSU pushed the ball up court and Thomas was left wide open from the right wing and hit his only trifecta of the day with 14 seconds to play to hand the Lakers a 70-68 lead.

With time running down, Michigan Tech's Culy lifted up for a three pointer from the top of the key but was rejected by Thomas, the ball went straight into the air and fell back into Culy's hands, who lifted another attempt from the same spot but this time was sent back to him by Przydzial. A third attempt fell short as time expired and the Lakers escaped with the victory.

Thomas led the Lakers with 14 points and was one of four Lakers with six rebounds in the game. He also collected three assists and two blocks. Hogan had 12 points and six rebounds to go with four assists while Przydzial had 10 points and six rebounds, including four offensive boards and a game-saving block attempt with time running down. Lee had three points, six rebounds and four blocks on the day. Michigan Tech was led by Haidar's 16 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth straight double-double.

The Lakers move to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in GLIAC play while the Huskies fall to 6-5 overall and 4-1 in the GLIAC.

GVSU will hit the court next on Thursday, December 29th to take on Seton Hill in the first round of the Gannon Porecco Cup tournament at 5:30 p.m.