For the second time this season, Grand Valley State had five players reach double figures as the Lakers rolled to an 80-62 home victory over Northwood on Saturday night (Feb. 14) in Allendale. The Lakers received 69 points from the starting five and shot 45 percent in the 18-point win.

Three weeks ago in Midland, the Timberwolves topped GVSU by a 78-70 final thanks, in part, to a great start to the ballgame. Over the final 35 minutes of that loss, the Lakers actually outscored Northwood by a 61-55 margin. That trend continued on Saturday night in Allendale, as Grand Valley State led 32-25 at halftime. After taking a 9-8 lead with 15:37 remaining in the opening half, the Lakers would hold the advantage for the duration of the contest.

The bucket to make the score 9-8 less than five minutes into Saturday's game was scored on a jumper by junior Ricardo Carbajal. It was the start of another terrific effort from the junior forward. After posting 24 points and 13 rebounds in last Saturday's (Feb. 7) home loss against Michigan Tech, Carbajal nearly duplicated the feat.

Against Northwood on Saturday, Carbajal tallied 23 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal. He made all nine free throw tries and was 7-of-10 from the field in 34 minutes. It was his fourth career double-double and third of the season.

Carbajal was joined in double-digits by the backcourt trio of senior Ryan Sabin, junior Darren Kapustka, and sophomore Luke Ryskamp. Sabin made 5-of-9 field goals and 7-of-8 freebies for 17 points. Ryskamp tallied 16 points, five boards, two assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. Kapustka made a pair of triples and scored 11 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, two steals, and his first blocked shot of the year.

Junior transfer Aaron Hayes played his first game in 2015 - he had been injured and not seen the court since Dec. 20 - but the guard poured in 10 points in just 16 minutes. That fivesome combined for 77 of the team's 80 points. 

Carbajal's early jumper gave the Lakers their last lead of the game, as that advantage would last over 35 minutes. A late Sabin jumper in the final minute took GVSU to halftime with the 32-25 lead despite a 35.7 field goal percentage for the Lakers. Grand Valley State led because it forced Northwood to a 30.0 percent clip and just 1-of-11 from three-point range. Northwood missed its first 10 triple tries.

A pair of free throws from Dylan Langkabel early in the second half closed the gap to 33-28. From there, the Lakers scored the next 13 points to open up a 46-28 advantage. Sabin scored nine points in that 13-0 surge, while Ryskamp and Carbajal each made layups to blow the game wide open.

Hayes would score six points in 31 seconds on an old-fashioned three-point play and a conventional three-pointer, pushing the advantage out to 52-32 with more than 13 minutes remaining.

The Timberwolves would pull within a dozen points on a couple occasions, but a Carbajal layup and Kapustka trifecta upped the lead back to 20 points (75-55) with less than three minutes to go.

GVSU improves to 11-14 on the year and 7-12 in GLIAC play, while Northwood drops to 13-12 overall and 9-10 in conference action.

For the game, the Lakers shot 45.3 percent from the field and made 28-of-34 free throws. It was Grand Valley State's defense, however, that made all the difference. Northwood shot just 35.4 percent from the floor and was a paltry 3-of-23 from beyond the arc for 13.0 percent. 

Entering the game, Langkabel, forward Will Bowles, and guard Maurice Jones combined to average 46.5 points per game for Northwood. Langkabel did manage to score 16 points on Saturday, but Bowles notched just seven points, while Jones - a former two-year starter at Division I USC - shot 1-for-11 from the field and scored just three points to go with six turnovers. 

The other member of the Laker starting five that did not reach double figures - senior center Darren Washington - did pull down six rebounds (four offensive) along with two steals and a blocked shot.

GVSU heads to University Center, Mich. on Thursday night (Feb. 19) to battle Saginaw Valley State. Tipoff is slated for 8:00 p.m.