Jan. 24, 2013

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State went wire-to-wire on Thursday night (Jan. 24) in Allendale, leading the entire 40 minutes of a 78-62 victory over rival Saginaw Valley State. It was the first time all season that GVSU did not trail at any point in a game. The victory was also of extra importance, as Laker head coach Ric Wesley claimed the 200th win of his GVSU career.

The sixth straight victory for Grand Valley State puts the Lakers at 14-3 overall and 11-2 in conference play. Saginaw Valley State drops to 7-8 on the season and 5-7 in league action. Wesley is now 200-63 in his nine seasons at the helm of the Laker program, good for a .760 career winning percentage.

GVSU had four double-digit scorers in the win, including a career-high 20 points from redshirt freshman Ricardo Carbajal. The rookie started his third straight game and was 9-of-12 from the field, totaling six boards (five offensive) three assists, and two steals. Carbajal is just the second Laker to crack the 20-point mark in a game this season.

Sophomore Ryan Majerle added 15 points off the bench, making 6-of-8 free throws and all three of his three-point tries. Point guard Breland Hogan supplied 13 points, six boards, five assists, and two steals, while shooting guard Ryan Sabin notched 12 points, four rebounds, and three dimes.

The Lakers shot 47.2 percent from the field for the game, which featured GVSU going 15-for-30 from the floor in the first half. Grand Valley State was 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes and 7-of-11 for the entire contest. Defensively, the Lakers held Saginaw Valley State to 37.3 percent shooting and outrebounded the Cardinals, 37-24.

GVSU led 17-8 midway through the first half after a Majerle trifecta and a jumper from Carbajal. The Cardinals, however, scored the next seven points of the game, pulling to 17-15 at the 8:19 mark. Grand Valley State threw a counterpunch by totaling eight points in a 36-second span. Senior Tony Peters converted a layup and Sabin knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to push the Lakers back out to a 25-15 lead.

Another 9-0 run late in the half (four points from Carbajal, a Majerle three-pointer, and a layup from Hogan) put GVSU on top, 35-17 with 65 seconds remaining. The Lakers would take a 37-23 cushion to halftime. Majerle and Sabin combined to go 5-for-5 from three-point range in the first half, with Majerle making three of the triples.

Any thoughts of a Cardinal comeback were quickly put away by Grand Valley State in the second half. Hogan buried a three-pointer at the 18:23 mark, Carbajal knocked down two free throws, sophomore Darren Washington scored off a beautiful assist from Hogan, and Carbajal scored on another layup. At that point, the score was 46-24 with 16:46 to play. SVSU would get as close as 11 points the rest of the way, but the Lakers converted enough free throws (19-of-29 in the second half) to close out the victory.

The Lakers owned leads in all five specialty categories, including points in the paint (30-20), points off turnovers (17-9), and bench points (26-22). GVSU, which moved to 10-1 at home this season, also received seven points, four boards, three steals, and two assists from junior Rob Woodson.

Grand Valley State will head to Wayne State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 26) at 1:00 p.m. for a huge match-up with the Warriors, who are 11-1 in GLIAC play after falling in double overtime at Ferris State on Thursday night.