March 10, 2013

Box Score

Houghton, Mich. - Lake Superior State moved past Grand Valley State 70-64 on Saturday afternoon (Mar. 9) in the GLIAC Semifinals in Houghton, Mich. LSSU advanced to Sunday's GLIAC Championship game on the strength of 32-of-41 shooting at the free throw line and a 33-19 rebounding edge.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two North Division schools, with GVSU winning both contests in the regular season. Grand Valley State, the tournament's #4 seed, had advanced to the semifinals with a win over #5 Hillsdale on Wednesday night, while #8 LSSU secured a huge upset over #1 Wayne State the same night. On Saturday afternoon, Lake Superior State continued their surprising run through the tournament.

With the loss, GVSU finishes the season with a 19-9 record, while Lake Superior State improves to 16-12. LSSU will face #3 Findlay on Sunday after the Oilers upended #2 Michigan Tech, the host school, by a 54-51 score in the first semifinal.

Lake Superior State owned a large advantage at the free throw line, as the team outscored GVSU at the charity stripe, 32-17. In the second half, LSSU was 21-of-26 on free throws. The victors also tallied 14 more rebounds than GVSU, although Grand Valley State owned a 43-21 edge in bench points.

After LSSU raced out to an early 9-2 lead, Grand Valley State notched the next 13 points of the game. Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Ryan Sabin, junior Rob Woodson, and sophomore Ryan Majerle gave GVSU the lead. Freshman Ricardo Carbajal scored on consecutive buckets to close out the 13-0 run and take a 15-9 advantage.

Grand Valley State kept the lead and was on top 31-25 after a layup from freshman Darren Kapustka. LSSU tied the score at 31-31 with 1:26 remaining in the half, but GVSU took a 33-32 lead into halftime.

With the game tied at 35-35, Grand Valley State scored nine of the next 11 points, including a Majerle three-pointer and four points from senior Tyrone Lee. The score was 44-37, but Lake Superior State rattled off 10 straight points to re-gain at 47-44 lead.

At the 6:01 mark, the game was again tied - for the seventh time - at 49-49. However, LSSU knocked down three consecutive three-pointers over the next two minutes and opened up a 58-51 advantage. Lake Superior State then moved to the free throw line, going 12-for-14 at the charity stripe in the final three minutes. GVSU would pull within four points (68-64) after a dunk from Lee and a Sabin three-pointer with nine seconds remaining, but Lake Superior State would advance.

Grand Valley State was led by Lee, who notched a team-high 15 points and a game-best nine rebounds in his final game as a Laker. Named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team on Friday for the second straight season, Lee went 9-of-12 at the free throw line. Carbajal provided 10 points in 18 minutes off the bench, while Sabin and Woodson each tallied nine points apiece.

LSSU's Derek Billing went 12-for-12 at the free throw line and scored a game-high 18 points. Forward Derek Kinney added 12 points and seven rebounds.

For the game, GVSU shot 42.6 percent and made 7-of-19 three-pointers. Lake Superior State made 45.7 percent of its attempts and knocked down 6-of-10 trifectas. Grand Valley State forced 17 LSSU turnovers and tallied a 17-7 edge in points off turnovers.