Feb. 14, 2013

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State completed a season sweep of Lake Superior State, defeating the visiting Lakers on Thursday night (Feb. 14) in Allendale by an 82-57 final. GVSU connected on 60.0 percent of its field goal tries and made a season-high 27 free throws in a strong home victory.

After four straight road games, it was nice for the Lakers to return to Allendale and they looked awfully comfortable in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. Grand Valley State made 7-of-10 three-point attempts and shot 63.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.

With the victory, GVSU improves to 16-6 overall and 13-5 in conference play. The Lakers are 11-1 at home and have won six consecutive games in Allendale. Lake Superior State drops to 12-10 on the season and 9-9 in league games.

Three players - all guards - for Grand Valley State combined to outscore LSSU by themselves. Senior Breland Hogan tied his season-high with a game-best 23 points, sophomore Ryan Sabin tied a career-high with 19 points in his return to the court, and junior Rob Woodson provided a career-best 16 points. Those three combined to shoot 18-for-24 from the field, including a 6-for-7 tally from three-point range.

Lake Superior State scored five of the game's first six points and led 10-5. GVSU responded with 10 consecutive points, six coming from Sabin in his first game since Jan. 26, and took a lead it would not relinquish. Grand Valley State pushed out to a 22-12 advantage after a Woodson triple and two freebies from sophomore Darren Washington, but LSSU cut the deficit to 31-28 with 2:02 to play in the half.

GVSU entered the halftime strong, notching seven of the next eight points, all of which came from Hogan. He made a pair of free throws, drained a three-pointer, and scored on a jumper in the final seconds to give the home Lakers a 38-29 lead at the intermission.

In the opening stanza, Grand Valley State forced 11 LSSU turnovers, scoring 12 points off those miscues. The Lakers shot 57.1 percent from the field and made 4-of-5 three-point attempts. Hogan (12) and Sabin (11) poured in a combined 23 points in the first 20 minutes.

To start the second half, GVSU built a 12-point cushion after a Sabin three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play from Hogan. Lake Superior State would not go away, however, keeping the game in single digits at 51-42 at the 13:52 mark.

From there, Grand Valley State put together a 20-4 run to take an insurmountable 71-46 lead. It started with a Ryan Majerle layup on a stellar pass from Ernijs Ansons and ended on a steal and coast-to-coast layup from Hogan. In between, Woodson notched seven points on a trifecta and four freebies to put the game out of hand.

Not only were the Lakers hitting on all cylinders on offense, but GVSU held Lake Superior State to just 38.6 percent shooting and 6-of-18 from three-point range. LSSU's top two scorers - Derek Billing and Derek Kinney, averaging a combined 32 points per game - scored just eight points on 1-of-8 shooting.

The bench for GVSU doubled up Lake Superior State, 22 to 11, and Grand Valley State notched 18 points on 15 LSSU turnovers. Hogan was 6-of-6 from the floor and made 10-of-12 free throw tries to go with three assists, three boards, and two steals. Sabin shot 7-of-11 on field goal tries, making 3-of-4 three-point attempts, in 27 minutes, while Woodson went 5-of-7 from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 at the line.

Senior Tyrone Lee supplied eight points, six rebounds, and a pair of blocks, while Majerle scored seven points and had four boards. Ansons delivered five assists and Washington rejected three LSSU shots, both of which tie personal-bests.

Grand Valley State heads on the road for a tough game at Northwood on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16). The Lakers and Timberwolves will tip off at 4:00 p.m. in Midland.