The Grand Valley State men's basketball team fell victim to a hot-shooting Findlay Oiler team on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 3) in Allendale, as the visitors earned an 82-66 road victory inside the Fieldhouse Arena. Findlay led 57-36 at halftime thanks to a dozen first half three-pointers and the Lakers were unable to mount enough of a comeback over the final 20 minutes.

GVSU had won its previous four games before falling to the Oilers on Saturday. Overall, the Lakers drop to 9-3 on the year and 3-3 in GLIAC play. Findlay, which lost at Ferris State on Saturday, improves to 6-5 on the season and 3-3 in conference action. The Lakers hit the road to take on Walsh and Malone this weekend (Jan. 7-9), with a 7:30 p.m. contest on Thursday night against the Walsh Cavaliers.

One major milestone was reached for Grand Valley State in the loss. Senior forward Ricardo Carbajal scored on a layup with 8:07 remaining in the second half for his 1,000th career point. Carbajal is the 33rd member of Grand Valley State's 1,000 point club, joining his former teammate Ryan Sabin, the 32nd inductee. Coincidentally, Sabin's 1,000th point came on the road against Findlay last season on Jan. 4, 2015.

The Oilers were outstanding offensively in the opening half, as Findlay connected on 12-of-21 three-pointers for a 57.1 percentage. Overall, UF shot 60.0 percent from the field, making 21-of-35 field goal tries. A large chunk of that offense came from sophomore guard Martyce Kimbrough, who went 8-for-10 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point range for 22 first half points. Kimbrough would finish the game with 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 6-of-11 from downtown.

Grand Valley State was led in scoring by seniors Aaron Hayes and Chaz Rollins. Hayes totaled 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while adding three rebounds and three assists. Coming off his third double-double in five games, Rollins made 6-of-7 shots and notched 12 points and four boards. Junior Luke Ryskamp provided nine points and six rebounds, while Carbajal tied Ryskamp with a team-best six boards.

The Lakers scored the first points of the game on a Zach West three-pointer (West also hit the opening three-pointer on Saturday against Wayne State) and he added two free throws to put GVSU ahead, 5-3. Grand Valley State's last lead was at 9-8 after consecutive layups from Rollins before Kimbrough drained three trifectas in a 70-second span to give Findlay the 17-11 lead. 

Both teams would trade three-pointers in a wild stretch around the nine-minute mark, with five of six baskets all coming from beyond the arc. The Lakers received triples from Hayes and senior Darren Kapustka, but another Kimbrough three-pointer pushed UF to a 40-25 advantage. Kimbrough would follow with 10 consecutive Findlay points and a 52-30 lead. The halftime score was 57-36 in the Oilers' favor.

GVSU actually shot the ball very well in the opening half, as the Lakers connected on 4-of-6 three-pointers and 50.0 percent shooting (13-of-26) overall. However, Grand Valley State committed seven turnovers in the first frame, leading to 12 points for the Oilers, who committed just two miscues in the first 20 minutes.

Findlay led by as many as 27 points in the second half, but the Lakers rallied and pulled to within 13 points (77-64) with 2:09 to play on a Deshawn Lewis three-pointer, but that is as close as GVSU could get in the stanza.

Overall, the Lakers outshot Findlay, 48.1 to 45.5 percent, as the Oilers were just 4-for-20 from the field and 1-of-8 from three-point range in the second half. UF went 13-for-29 from beyond the arc, while Grand Valley State was 7-of-13 from downtown. The Lakers did commit 17 turnovers, while Findlay made just nine miscues.

GVSU owned the edge in the paint, 32-16, and received 23 bench points, including six from Lewis and five points apiece from Kapustka, Trevin Alexander, and Myles Miller.