Jan. 3, 2013

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State dropped its first home game of the season on Thursday night (Jan. 3), falling to visiting Walsh by a 83-79 score in a game that came down to the final seconds. The Lakers owned a 79-77 lead with 47 seconds remaining before Walsh scored the final six points of the game.

It was quite a back-and-forth contest between GVSU and Walsh in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. There were seven lead changes and the score was tied five times during the game. With the loss, Grand Valley State falls to 8-3 overall and 5-2 in GLIAC play. The Cavaliers, in their first year in the GLIAC, improve to 7-3 on the season and 3-3 in the conference.

Laker senior Tony Peters put GVSU ahead 77-76 with his fifth three-pointer of the game coming at the 1:20 mark. After the Cavaliers tied the score by splitting two freebies, Peters made a pair of free throw attempts on the other end to give the Lakers a 79-77 lead. There was 47 seconds left at that juncture.

Walsh's Davonte Beard took the ball the other way and scored on an old-fashioned three-point play after converting a tough layup in the paint in which he was fouled. Grand Valley State had a chance when senior Breland Hogan misfired on a jumper just outside the low block with 22 seconds left, but the Lakers still had life as Beard split the ensuing free throws.

Trailing 81-79, Hogan missed a running jumper with six seconds remaining and two free throws from Walsh's Kenny Kornowski sealed the game for the Cavaliers. Kornowski led all players with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while notching 15 points in the second half. Peters provided 17 points for GVSU, as he knocked down 5-of-6 three-pointers, four of which came in the first half.

Grand Valley State scored the game's first six points and led by as many as 10 points in the opening 20 minutes. The lead was 27-17 after a trifecta from Peters and was 31-21 in GVSU's favor after a free throw from Tyrone Lee. Walsh, however, responded by putting together a 22-7 run to close out the half and take a 43-38 advantage into halftime.

The Cavaliers shot 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the first half and were 10-of-13 from the free throw line. GVSU made 6-of-13 three-point attempts (Peters was 4-for-4 from downtown to start the game) and shot 43.8 percent from the floor in the opening stanza.

Walsh would lead for nearly the entire second half, though the Lakers did tie the score at 47-47 on a layup from Lee. The Cavaliers answered by scoring 10 of the game's next 13 points and opening up a 57-50 cushion. Ryan Sabin's three-pointer brought GVSU within a point at 67-66 with 8:24 to play, but Walsh again responded by owning a 74-68 advantage at the 4:58 mark.

This is when the Lakers made their run. Lee converted a pair of free throws, Sabin scored on a driving layup, and junior Rob Woodson also put in a layup to tie the game at 74-74, keeping Walsh off the scoreboard for over five minutes of gametime. That set the stage for the dramatic final two minutes.

For the game, GVSU shot 45.6 percent from the field and made 9-of-18 three-point attempts. Walsh connected at a 53.7 percentage and knocked down 7-of-19 triple tries. Both teams made 18 free throws with the Lakers shooting 25 freebies and WU having 27 free tries. The Cavaliers outrebounded Grand Valley State, 39-28, though the Lakers committed just seven turnovers.

In addition to Peters, three other GVSU players scored in double figures. Sabin provided 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. He made all four free throw tries and dished out three assists in 34 minutes. Lee supplied 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. His starting frontcourt mate, sophomore Darius Norman, tallied 12 points in 14 minutes, going 4-of-6 from the field and nailing all four free throws.

The Lakers will be back in action on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 5) when GVSU hosts Malone. When these two teams played last season at the Gannon Porreco Cup Tournament, Grand Valley State was victorious by a 76-68 score. Tip-off on Saturday is at 1:00 p.m.