After a 26-point victory at Hillsdale on Thursday night, Grand Valley State led for all 40 minutes in an impressive 79-58 win at Walsh on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10) in North Canton, Ohio. The Lakers shot 54.5 percent from the field, outscored Walsh 44-22 in the paint, and held the Cavaliers 30 points below their season average to sweep their weekend road trip.
 
With the victory, GVSU improves to 7-4 on the season and 3-1 in GLIAC play, winning two games on the road in the last three days by a combined 47 points. Walsh loses at home for the first time this year, as the Cavaliers fall to 7-2 on the season and 2-2 in league play. Their only other loss was a 92-89 defeat at Michigan Tech last weekend.
 
Four players reached double figures for the Lakers, led by two players who were nearly perfect from the field. Junior guard Chris Dorsey scored 15 first-half points and ended with a game-high 17 points, as the transfer was 8-of-9 from the field and added five boards and a pair of steals. Center Drake Baar shot 7-of-8 from the floor, notching 14 points and six boards in another strong effort from the junior.
 
Senior Luke Ryskamp supplied 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while junior Myles Miller tallied 10 points and handed out three assists, along with a big second-half highlight.
 
The first six points of the game came on two shots from Baar and a jumper from Ryskamp to give GVSU the early 6-0 lead. Immediately after entering the game, Dorsey scored seven straight points to extend the advantage to 15-9. It was 20-16 with 7:41 remaining when Dorsey started an 8-0 run and scored on two short jumpers and a layup with Baar adding a midrange jumper to give the Lakers a 28-16 cushion a little more than two minutes later.
 
Grand Valley State would take a 32-21 halftime lead, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and holding Walsh to 7-of-29 shooting (24.1 percent) and 1-of-9 from three-point range.
 
With 16:52 to play in the game, the Cavaliers had cut the lead to eight points at 38-30 before a 9-0 Laker run kept control in GVSU's hands. Senior Trevin Alexander hit a jumper, followed by fast break layups from Miller and Dorsey. On the Lakers' next possession, freshman Lance Dollison drilled a three-pointer to extend the Laker advantage to 47-30.
 
The lead was 13 points at the nine-minute mark before one final Grand Valley State run put the game out of reach. Baar converted back-to-back layups, senior Juwan Starks hit a jumper, followed by an Alexander layup, and a Ryskamp trifecta. Dorsey then forced a steal near midcourt and tossed it ahead to Miller and the 5'8" guard got out in transition and went up to throw down the one-handed dunk, igniting the Laker bench and pushing GVSU out to a 65-44 cushion with 6:15 remaining. It was the first dunk of Miller's collegiate career.
 
Junior Danzel Wright buried a pair of deep three-pointers in a 70-second span to push the advantage out to a game-high 29 points at 77-48 and the Lakers would close out the game minutes later.
 
Starks scored seven points and rejected a pair of Cavalier shots, while Wright and sophomore Alec Marty posted six points each. Dollison tied Baar for team-high rebounding honors, collecting six missed caroms.
 
The Lakers held Walsh's Zac Carter - who entered the game with a GLIAC-high 22 points per game - to 15 points on just 4-of-13 shooting. Forward Trey Fletcher did score 23 points, but was only 7-of-23 from the field and 2-of-10 from three-point range.
 
Grand Valley State made 5-of-10 three-pointers in the second half and shot 54.5 percent from the field in the game, while holding the Cavaliers to 31.1 percent shooting and 7-of-27 from downtown.
 
While only committing seven turnovers, the Lakers forced 11 Walsh miscues and outscored the Cavaliers 19-5 in points off turnovers and 34-9 in bench points.
 
Next weekend, GVSU returns home to take on Tiffin (Saturday, 3:00 p.m.) and Ashland (Monday, 7:00 p.m.) inside the Fieldhouse Arena.