Feb. 5, 2011

Box Score

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. - In what could very likely be considered a season-changing victory, #17 Grand Valley State came back from a 13-point second-half deficit to force overtime and knock off Lake Superior State by a 69-63 final on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5) in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. After GVSU tied the score on a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left, Lake Superior State missed two free throws with three seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime. Grand Valley State outscored the home Lakers by a 15-9 tally in the extra session, which was GVSU's second overtime game in its last three contests.

The importance of Saturday's game came from the results of the Lakers' prior two games, as Grand Valley State (16-5 overall, 11-3 GLIAC) was riding an uncharacteristic two-game losing streak. With the conference and regional playoffs coming up in the next month, GVSU certainly did not want to experience its first three-game losing streak since Feb. 24 to March 1, 2005. It took a few gritty efforts from Grand Valley State - plus a little bit of luck - to reverse the recent trend and pick up a huge road victory.

Lake Superior State (13-8 overall, 7-7 GLIAC) owned a 49-36 advantage (its biggest lead of the game) with 9:05 remaining before GVSU put together a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes to tie the score at 49-49. That scoreless streak woke up LSSU, as the home Lakers scored the next four points to lead 53-49 with 28 seconds remaining. Just five seconds later though, junior James Thomas came down and drained a big three-pointer, cutting the deficit to 53-52. After Lake Superior State split a pair of free throws, Thomas was fouled on the next GVSU possession and knocked down both freebies, tying the score at 54-54 with just 12 seconds left.

On LSSU's ensuing possession, forward Justin Williams was fouled in the key and headed to the line for a pair of free throws with only three seconds left in the game. Williams, however, missed both free throw attempts and senior Justin Ringler pulled down the rebound for Grand Valley State. His heave from beyond half court rimmed out, sending the game into overtime. It was GVSU's second overtime game in its last three outings, the first time that has happened since Jan. 10-19, 2002.

The visiting Lakers got on the board first in the extra session, as Ringler buried a jumper 28 seconds into overtime. After a LSSU turnover, Thomas came down and sank a three-pointer, giving Grand Valley State a 59-54 lead. A jumper from Tony Peters a minute and a half later kept GVSU on top by five points at 61-56. Lake Superior State would not go away and received a rarely-seen four-point play, as LSSU's Micah Hudson knocked down a three-pointer and made a free throw after being fouled by Ringler. What was more important is that the foul was Ringler's fifth personal, knocking him out of the game.

Grand Valley State answered on its next possession though, as Thomas drained another trifecta, putting the visiting Lakers up 64-60 with only 44 seconds left to play. However, Hudson came back and answered Thomas' three-pointer with one of his own, making the score 64-63 with 30 seconds remaining. But GVSU would score the game's final five points on free throws, as sophomore Breland Hogan and Thomas each would sink two freebies in the final 25 seconds, pushing Grand Valley State to its first overtime win since Feb. 27, 2010, a 72-70 win over Northwood.

Early on in the game, it appeared that overtime would never be in the discussion, as GVSU was up by nine points on a pair of occasions. Six consecutive Laker points from sophomore Nick Carreri pushed the lead out to six points at 16-10 and a three-pointer from new acquisition Jovonne Augustus, a star wide receiver on the GVSU football team, made the score 19-10 with 11:56 left. Ringler's jumper at the 9:18 mark made the score 21-12, but Lake Superior State then tallied the next 15 points of the game to lead 27-21. At halftime, LSSU was on top by a 32-25 mark thanks to a 20-4 run after Hudson buried a three-pointer seconds before the halftime buzzer.

Lake Superior State extended the advantage to 13 points twice in the second half, but GVSU's 13-0 run made for quite a finish to the game. Junior Wes Trammell started the run with a three-pointer, then added a jumpshot to bring the visiting Lakers within eight points. Hogan knocked down two free throws and Ringler scored on consecutive buckets in a 48-second span, cutting the deficit to 49-47. After Thomas sank two free throws with 2:20 remaining, the score was tied at 49-49, setting the stage for a third straight exciting finish for Grand Valley State. This time, however, GVSU ended up in the winning column.

For the game, Grand Valley State shot 42.1 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers. The visiting Lakers struggled at the line, making just 13-of-21 attempts (61.9 percent), but they made 5-of-7 freebies in overtime. Lake Superior State shot 41.1 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-23 three-pointers for a 47.8 percentage. Luckily, LSSU shot worse from the line, making only 6-of-11 shots from the charity stripe.

GVSU won the rebounding battle 40-35 and forced 16 turnovers from Lake Superior State. The Grand Valley State bench outscored LSSU's reserves by a 20-6 count, while GVSU also lead in points in the paint (20-17) and points off of turnovers (19-11).

Four players reached double digits for Grand Valley State, led by Thomas' third straight strong performance. He totaled his first career double-double and just the second one for a Laker this season, as he notched 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Thomas was only 4-of-13 from the field, but all four shots came from three-point range. He also was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line and 10 of his 11 boards came on the defensive end.

Ringler added 12 points, eight rebounds, a career-high tying five steals, and three assists. He played 44 of the game's 45 minutes. Carreri was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and totaled 12 points and three boards in 17 minutes off the bench. Peters added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in his second straight start. Hogan handed out a team-high five assists. Center Asauhn Tatum added five points, five boards, and a game-high three blocked shots.

Lake Superior State was led by Hudson and Derek Billing, as each player notched 18 points and made five three-pointers. Billing added eight rebounds and six assists for LSSU. Khalid Wells also reached double figures with 10 points.

Grand Valley State will continue its four-game road trip, as the Lakers will head to Ohio next weekend for a pair of games. Next Thursday (Feb. 10), GVSU will face Ashland at 5:30 p.m. in Ashland, Ohio, followed by a Saturday meeting at Lake Erie.