Dec. 30, 2011

Box Score

Erie, Pa. - The Grand Valley State men's basketball team claimed a 76-68 victory over Malone University in the third-place game at the 38th Annual Porreco Cup Tournament hosted by Gannon University. GVSU (8-3) will next be in action at Saginaw Valley State January 5th. The Lakers will be looking for their 800th win in program history at SVSU.

Malone University took an early lead over GVSU and held the lead until junior guard Breland Hogan tied the game at 11-11 with a layup at the 14:31 mark of the first half. Senior guard James Thomas gave the Lakers their first lead of the game (18-16) with a three-pointer and started a 22-6 run over the final 10:50 of the opening stanza. Freshman guard Ryan Sabin added back-to-back three-pointers of his own to up the Laker lead to 24-16. Sophomore guard Rob Woodson added a pair of buckets and a jumper from Thomas upped GVSU's lead to 30-20. Junior forward Tyrone Lee and junior guard Josh Anderson hit layups in the final 27 seconds to give GVSU its largest lead of the game (37-22).

A dunk by Lee and a three-pointer from Thomas upped the Laker lead to 17 points (47-30) at the 17:02 mark of the second half, however, Malone went on a 16-2 run over the next 5:43 to cut the Laker lead to three (49-46). Senior center Nick Waddell hit four straight free throws to get the GVSU lead back to seven (53-46), but Malone remained close for the remainder of the game. Malone trailed 57-53 with 7:24 left, but Waddell scored a layup and Sabin hit a pair of free throws. Thomas hit a three-pointer to give GVSU a 68-57 lead and Hogan all but clinched the win with a three-pointer with 1:48 left to give GVSU a 71-59 lead.

Thomas led four Lakers in double figures with 20 points as he connected on 6-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point land. Hogan added 13 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Waddell chipped in 12 points. Sabin added 11 points and Lee contributed nine points and eight rebounds.

GVSU hit 51.1 percent from the floor (24-for-47), 46.7 percent from three-point land (7-for-15) and 80.8 percent from the charity stripe (21-for-26). The Lakers held a 30-24 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over just 12 times.