Feb. 9, 2012

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Allendale, Mich. - The Grand Valley State basketball team got a double-double from senior James Thomas and three trifectas from junior Tony Peters to held upend Ashland on Thursday (Feb. 9) evening, 64-51.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 14-10 lead following a layup with 12:04 to play in the opening half but GVSU grabbed the lead back with five straight free throws, four of which came from Thomas to go up 15-14. After an Ashland jumper gave the lead back to the Eagles, it was only temporary as a jumper from senior Nick Waddell put the Lakers up 17-16 and they never looked back.

The jumper would be the beginning of an 11-0 run for GVSU that saw their lead balloon to 10 at 26-16 with 4:42 to play in the half following a Peters three-pointer.

Up 28-20, the Lakers went on another big run, ending the first half with a nine-point binge, including Peters' third trifecta in three minutes to stake themselves to a 37-20 halftime advantage.

Peters had 11 first half points for the Lakers while freshman Ben Lanning had four points and four rebounds. Thomas and junior Breland Hogan had a combined nine assists and one turnover as the Lakers shot 41.4-percent from the floor.

Ashland made a run at the beginning of the second half, scoring the first pair of points and then cutting the lead to 38-24 with 17:09 to play. A Peters jumper at the 16:50 mark pushed the Laker lead back out to 40-24, but that was the last field goal GVSU would make for nearly six minutes.

In that timespan, the Eagles went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to six at 42-36. Following two free throws from freshman Ryan Sabin, a layup by the freshman at the 11:01 mark ended the GVSU drought. Ashland wasn't done with their run after that, extending the run to 21-6 as the Lakers lead was cut to one possession, 48-45.

Up only three, Thomas hit two jumpers sandwiched around a layup from junior Tyrone Lee that pushed the lead back up to nine with 5:57 to play. The six point run put the game away for the Lakers as they cruised to a 13 point victory.

Thomas led the Lakers with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season. He also led the team in steals with three. Peters and Waddell each had 13 points in the game while Peters had three of the Lakers' four makes from long range. GVSU was 16-for-20 from the charity stripe and committed a season-low five turnovers. On the boards, the Lakers held a 37-22 advantage over the Eagles, who came in to the game averaging 37 rebounds per contest. GVSU's 16 offensive boards matched Ashland's defensive total.

GVSU held advantages in points off turnovers (14-4), second chance points (16-4), fast break points (5-0) and bench scoring (26-15).

Ashland was led by Evan Yates, who had 18 points and five rebounds for the Eagles.

The Lakers are now 13-9 on the season with a 9-6 record in the GLIAC while Ashland falls to 13-9 with an 8-7 mark in the conference.

GVSU finishes their four-game homestand on Saturday (Feb. 11) when they take on Lake Erie College at 3 p.m. in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.