Jan. 11, 2012

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - A 9-1 run for Northwood in the second half doomed the Lakers on Wednesday (Jan. 11) evening as the Timberwolves scored a 63-59 victory over Grand Valley State at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

The game began with a lot of fouls and a lot of turnovers for both teams. After Northwood hit an opening three-pointer, freshman Ryan Sabin converted an old-fashioned three point play to tie the game up and then hit a layup about a minute later to give the Lakers a 5-3 lead at the 17:52 mark. The Timberwolves responded with another three-pointer to make it 6-5 and that's when scoring slowed down for both teams. There were no points scored over a nearly 3.5-minute stretch before GVSU took the lead back at 7-6 on a jumper from senior Mike Przydzial. GVSU pushed their lead out to a game-high six points at the 8:09 mark of the half on a layup from sophomore Dan Newell but five straight Northwood points cut the lead to one.

Northwood took a three point lead at 23-20 with 3:52 to play in the first half but the Lakers scored seven straight points, all off free throws, to take back a four point lead at the 1:20 mark. A layup from the Timberwolves cut the lead to two and GVSU went into the locker room with a 27-25 advantage. At the half, GVSU was led in scoring by Sabin and senior James Thomas, each with five, while Thomas also had five rebounds. The Lakers were 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in the opening half while Northwood hit at a 40-percent clip from three point land (4-for-10).

The Lakers pushed their lead out to four to open the second half after a Thomas fast break layup and after the two teams exchanged three pointers, Northwood went on a four point run to tie the game at 32 and took the lead at the 15:41 mark with a three pointer from Darvin Ham that made it a 35-34 game.

With the game tied at 40 after a tip-in from junior Tyrone Lee, Northwood went on their crucial run. A Northwood jumper made it 42-40 and after Przydzial was only able to hit one of two at the charity stripe, another three pointer from the Timberwolves pushed their own lead out to four at 45-41. Two consecutive layups within a one minute span ran the lead out to 49-41. Between the 10:20 and 6:19 marks of the second half, in the middle of the 9-1 run, the Lakers missed six straight free throws to allow Northwood to keep extending their lead.

The Lakers were able to battle back and cut the lead to two at 56-54 with 1:07 left after two free throws from junior Breland Hogan, but a defensive breakdown for the Lakers allowed Northwood's Cameron Joyce to drive to the hoop uncontested on the following possession, giving the Timberwolves a 58-54 advantage.

Hogan again cut the lead to two with a pair of free throws but Northwood then hit four straight free throws of their own to ice the game as time ran down. A trifecta from junior Tony Peters pulled the Lakers within three, but it was with less than a second left on the clock as the Timberwolves escaped with the 63-59 win.

The Lakers were led by Thomas' near-double double as he went for 12 points and nine rebounds but struggled from the floor, shooting 4-of-14 and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. Hogan had a team-high 13 points (11-for-13 from the free throw line) while senior Nick Waddell was the only other Laker in double figures with 10 points to go with six rebounds.

Northwood got a big game from Bobby Lewis who had 17 points and 12 rebounds. The shooting totals were eerily similar for both sides as neither team held big advantages from any part of the floor. Northwood shot 39.6-percent from the floor with GV at 38.1-percent. Both teams struggled from the free throw line with the Lakers hitting 69.4-percent of their freebies and Northwood hitting 60.7-percent while Northwood held a slight advantage from beyond the arc, making 33.3-percent of their trifectas to GV's 22.2-percent.

Northwood held a 32-17 advantage in points off the bench and a 14-7 advantage in second chance points.

The loss marks the first time this season that GVSU has dropped back-to-back games and the first time this year the Lakers have lost while hitting more free throws than their opponent.

Northwood moves to 8-5 on the year (4-3 GLIAC) while the Lakers fall to 9-5 (5-3 GLIAC).

The Lakers will have to rebound quickly for a big game on Saturday (Jan. 14) when 18th-ranked Hillsdale comes to Allendale for an 8 p.m. tip at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.