Jan. 12, 2013

Box Score | Postgame Comments

Allendale, Mich. - Coming off of a 43-41 defensive slugfest on Thursday night, the Grand Valley State team was offensive-minded on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12), knocking off visiting Michigan Tech, 70-65. GVSU shot 56.1 percent from the field, made eight three-pointers, and held a 14-point lead against the preseason favorite to win the GLIAC North Division.

The victory pushes Grand Valley State to 11-3 on the season and 8-2 in GLIAC play, while Michigan Tech falls to 10-4 overall and 7-3 in the conference. GVSU has won its last three games, while the Huskies also fell at Ferris State on Thursday night for a winless road trip. In the GLIAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Michigan Tech was chosen to finish atop the league's North Division, while GVSU was slotted in fifth place.

All eight Lakers that scored tallied at least five points apiece, led by 16 points from senior point guard Breland Hogan and 13 points from sophomore Kristers Zeidaks. Hogan provided 11 points in the second half, including a few big plays down the stretch. Grand Valley State shot 56.1 percent for the game, but connected on 63.6 percent (14-of-22) of its attempts in the first half.

Michigan Tech scored the game's first six points, but that would be the team's biggest lead of the contest. Trailing 19-14, GVSU used a three-pointer from Hogan to start a 16-0 run that essentially changed the game and put it in the Lakers' favor. Ricardo Carbajal, Tyrone Lee, and Zeidaks followed with consecutive layups and the lead grew to 26-19 on a trifecta from senior Tony Peters.

Another lay-in from Zeidaks concluded the 16-point surge at 30-19 and Grand Valley State took a 38-26 score into the halftime break. In the opening stanza, the Lakers tallied a 21-1 advantage in bench points, 11 of those coming from Zeidaks. Michigan Tech stayed close thanks to 52.9 percent shooting in the opening half. The Huskies' Ben Stelzer was 4-for-5 from three-point range in the first frame.

Carbajal delivered four points early in the second half and his tip-in at the 18:13 mark made the score 42-28, the biggest lead of the day for GVSU. Michigan Tech would begin to chip away at the lead, pulling within six points on three different occasions; all of those were answered by points from the Lakers, including three-pointers by Peters and sophomore Ryan Majerle.

MTU made the score 57-53 with 5:26 to go, but Hogan drained a three-pointer 30 seconds later to regain control for the Lakers. After a layup from Tech's Ali Haidar (the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year) with 2:19 to play, Hogan scored on a driving layup to push GVSU out to a 64-59 advantage. The Lakers maintained that lead and received free throws down the stretch (a pair from Ryan Sabin with 25 ticks left) to clinch the win. Grand Valley State went 3-1 on this homestand.

Peters (2-of-4 triple tries), Majerle (a pair of three-pointers and two blocked shots), and Rob Woodson (6-of-10 at the line) all contributed eight points apiece. Carbajal, Sabin, and Zeidaks all pulled down four rebounds for the Lakers, who owned a 24-20 edge on the glass over MTU.

While Michigan Tech did shoot 52.4 percent from the game, the Huskies received 56 of their 65 points from three players. Haidar scored 25 points, but only recorded six boards; his season average entering the game was 10.4 rebounds per game. Stelzer finished 7-of-8 from downtown and scored 21 points.

The Laker bench owned a huge 35-9 advantage and it was the fourth straight game that the GVSU subs tallied at least 30 points. Grand Valley State also held a 26-22 edge in points in the paint, despite Haidar scoring most of his points from the painted area.

GVSU heads on the road for a match-up next Thursday (Jan. 17) against Lake Superior State. That game, in Sault Ste. Marie, will begin at 5:30 p.m.