A terrific season-opening effort by the Grand Valley State men's basketball team nearly gave the Lakers an upset exhibition victory at Valparaiso on Thursday night (Nov. 6). GVSU led midway through the second half and trailed by just six points with three minutes to play before the Crusaders closed out the contest, 60-52.
 
It was the first exhibition game for the Lakers and Valparaiso, a Division I school out of the Horizon League that finished last season with an 18-16 record. Grand Valley State played very well, limiting the Crusaders to just 35 percent shooting (only 4-of-21 from three-point range) and forced Valpo into 20 turnovers.
 
The experienced Lakers turned the ball over just 12 times, held an 11-9 edge in second chance points, and had three players - senior Ryan Sabin and juniors Darren Kapustka and Ricardo Carbajal - tally double figures in the scoring column.
 
Sabin's 10 rebounds were a game-high and he also knocked down three three-pointers to tally 11 points for a double-double. Kapustka hit a pair of trifectas, made 5-of-6 freebies, and totaled a team-high 13 points, while Carbajal added 10 points.
 
Valparaiso used a game-best 17 points from Alec Peters and 16 points off the bench from Darien Walker. The Crusaders made 22-of-35 free throw attempts, while GVSU was 10-of-18 at the charity stripe. Grand Valley State was called for 26 fouls; Valpo committed 17 fouls.
 
A low-scoring first half saw the home Crusaders take a 23-20 advantage into the locker room. The Lakers held Valpo to just nine points in the opening 10 minutes of the first half and pushed out to a 17-13 advantage after a three-pointer from sophomore Luke Ryskamp. Valparaiso responded with a 10-3 run over the final 5:12 to take the lead at intermission.
 
The game was tight in the second half - including six tie scores and nine lead changes throughout the 40 minutes - and GVSU took a 36-35 lead with 9:49 to play on a jumper from senior Chaz Rollins. Valparaiso put together an 11-2 surge over the next three minutes to take a 46-38 advantage.
 
Sabin drained a three-pointer at the 5:53 mark to keep the score at 48-43 and after the Crusaders pushed back out to a 52-43 lead, the Lakers again responded. Carbajal sank two free throws and Sabin hit another triple try just 23 seconds later to bring GVSU with six points at 54-48.
 
That six-point deficit occurred at the 2:55 mark, but over the next minute, Valpo scored five straight points and took its biggest lead of the game, 59-48.
 
The Laker starters - Carbajal, Kapustka, Rollins, Ryskamp, and Sabin - scored 46 points, while Valparaiso's starting five totaled just 31 points. Rollins put up eight rebounds and seven points, while Ryskamp added six boards and five points.
 
Junior Ernijs Ansons dished out a game-best four assists. Sabin, Rollins, and freshman Sam McClendon each recorded two steals. All 10 of Sabin's rebounds came on the defensive end.
 
GVSU returns to exhibition action on Tuesday night (Nov. 11) at 7:00 p.m., when the team travels to Holland to face Hope.