Northern Michigan (Thursday, 8:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
Michigan Tech (Saturday, 3:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
The Grand Valley State men's basketball team looks to break out of a recent slump this weekend, as GVSU welcomes a pair of Upper Peninsula teams into the Fieldhouse Arena. On Thursday night (Feb. 5), the Lakers face Northern Michigan at 8:00 p.m. before squaring off with Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 7) at 3:00 p.m.
 
These are the fourth and fifth games in what will amount to a 10-day span for Grand Valley State. At 9-12 overall and 5-10 in the GLIAC standings, GVSU has dropped six straight games for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The Lakers have been close in all six outings, with four games being decided by less than eight points and no loss coming by more than a dozen points.
 
Both games can be heard on a pair of radio stations; WTKG-AM 1230 is the flagship station for Laker basketball, while WMUS-FM 107.9 also carries the games. The game broadcasts can also be heard online; click the link above to access iHeart radio. Additionally, Saturday's game against Michigan Tech can be seen live on XFinity Channel 900.
 
Thursday's matchup with Northern Michigan gives the Lakers a chance to quickly get back on their home floor after suffering a tough overtime defeat on Monday night. GVSU took its West Michigan rival and GLIAC leader - #22 Ferris State - to overtime before the Bulldogs eventually pulled away with a 96-85 victory.
 
For the first time this season, a pair of Lakers eclipsed the 20-point plateau in the same game. Sophomore Luke Ryskamp scored a game-high and tied his career-high with 29 points, 21 of which came in the second half and overtime. Senior Ryan Sabin added 20 points, while playing 43 of 45 minutes in the game. Ryskamp logged 42 minutes on Monday. The last duo to reach 20 points in the same game was Chaz Rollins (26 points) and Rob Woodson (23) in a 76-66 loss at Walsh on Jan. 9, 2014.
 
Senior center Darren Washington notched 10 points, eight boards, and a career-high four blocked shots against FSU. It is the first time a Laker had blocked four shots since Dec. 19, 2011, when Tyrone Lee tallied four rejections against Michigan Tech. Also adding a career-high on Monday was junior guard Darren Kapustka, who handed out a career-best eight assists.
 
The Lakers split against these two teams in the Upper Peninsula in mid-January. GVSU used strong shooting (7-of-10 three-pointers, 21-of-28 free throws) to top Northern Michigan by a 62-53 score on Jan. 15 in Marquette. Two days later in Houghton, Michigan Tech drained 30-of-33 free throws to defeat Grand Valley State, 77-65.
 
Northern Michigan enters Thursday's game with an 8-13 record and a 6-9 mark in league action. Owners of a 3-6 road record, the Wildcats are coming off their biggest win of the season on Monday night. NMU went up to Houghton and defeated its Upper Peninsula rival 67-62 on Michigan Tech's home floor. Couple that with an 88-79 overtime victory last Saturday at home and the Wildcats have won consecutive games after dropping its previous five contests.
 
NMU's other two road victories were at Walsh (70-61) and at Malone (68-65) on Dec. 4-6. The Wildcats lost four road games in a row before beating the Huskies on Monday night. During their recent five-game losing streak, only one game was decided by more than a dozen points.
 
The reigning GLIAC North Division Player of the Week is NMU senior forward Chavis Mattison, who ranks in the top-seven in all four rebounding categories (offensive, defensive, total, and per game). The team's leading scorer is freshman guard Jordan Perez, who is putting up 10.6 points per game and shooting 44.9 percent from three-point range (fifth in the GLIAC), but leads the GLIAC with 55 turnovers.
 
Michigan Tech will take a 13-6 record and a 10-5 league tally into Thursday's game at Ferris State before coming to Allendale on Saturday. The Huskies have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, coming against their fellow U.P. rivals. Including the 67-62 loss to Northern Michigan on Monday night, MTU dropped a 66-57 decision to Lake Superior State last Saturday. Both games came in Houghton.
 
The Huskies had won four straight games before falling in their two most recent contests. On the road this season, MTU is 6-3 and has been victorious in four consecutive road outings, winning at Ohio Dominican, Tiffin, Hillsdale, and Saginaw Valley State. The 66-58 win over SVSU on Jan. 24 gave the Cardinals their first conference loss of the year.
 
Senior guard Ben Stelzer has made a case to be the GLIAC Player of the Year. Stelzer leads the GLIAC in scoring (21.6 ppg), three-pointers (78), and three-point percentage (46.2), but is tied with NMU's Perez for the most turnovers in the league. On Monday against Northern Michigan, Stelzer scored a career-high 37 points in the loss. Junior guard Jordan Chartier is scoring 10.4 points per game, ranks third in the GLIAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.8), and has made the seventh-most three-pointers (42) of any conference player.
 
After this weekend, GVSU heads to Lake Superior State next Thursday (Feb. 12) before returning to Allendale for a meeting with Northwood on Saturday (Feb. 14).