Jan. 4, 2014

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Allendale, Mich. - The Grand Valley State men's basketball team certainly has a flair for the dramatic. The Lakers trailed by 10 points with 9:51 left in regulation, but outscored No. 12 Findlay 29-14 down the stretch and shot 76.5 percent from the field in the second half to come away with a 81-76 victory.

Sophomore guard Darren Kapustka drained a three-pointer with 20 seconds to play to break a 74-74 tie and gave GVSU its first lead in over 18 minutes. Junior guard Ryan Sabin and freshman guard Luke Ryskamp, who made his first career start Saturday (Jan. 4) afternoon, each sunk a pair of free throws to seal the comeback.

Sabin and senior guard Rob Woodson scored 16 points apiece, while Kapustka and sophomore forward Ricardo Carbajal poured in 14 and 13 points, respectively.

This seemed to be set up for a dramatic ending early on, seeing as neither team could pull away from the other in a tight first half. Throughout the opening 20 minutes, there were eight ties and the lead changed hands 11 times.

With the score even at 19-19 and 8:44 left in the opening frame, Carbajal knocked down a jumper in the paint and Woodson followed it up with a three-pointer to give GVSU its largest lead of the afternoon. It also marked the first time either team led by more than three points.

Findlay weathered the run, though, and scored seven of the game's next nine points to knot things back up, 26-26, at the 2:21 mark. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Greg Kahlig eventually sent GVSU into the locker room trailing 31-30, despite getting 11 first-half points from Sabin.

Junior forward Chaz Rollins laid in a pass from Sabin a little over two minutes into the second half to give the Lakers a 37-36 edge. GVSU would trail by as many as 10 points on two occasions before it rallied with five minutes left to play.

GVSU scored 20 points in the final 4:58, including Kapustka's go-ahead three, to cap its third-largest comeback victory of the season.

Kahlig scored a game-high 30 points for the Oilers, but the Laker defense battened down the hatches late and contained him. Over the final 12:24, Kahlig was limited to just two points, both of which came at the foul line.

GVSU's stingy defense also held Findlay to 23-of-60 (38.3 percent) from the field. The Oilers entered the game averaging over 90 points per game and shooting 50.3 percent from the floor.

This is not the first time the Lakers have managed to stun a highly-ranked Findlay squad. On Feb. 17, 2011, unranked GVSU took down the No. 3 Oilers, 72-66 at the Fieldhouse Arena, the last time the teams played in Allendale.

Up next for the Lakers is a four-game road trip through the state of Ohio and the Upper Peninsula. GVSU will face Walsh on Thursday (Jan. 9) at 7:30 p.m. EST to begin its time away from Allendale.