HILLSDALE, Mich.— The Grand Valley State men's basketball team exploded for a decisive run in the first half of Thursday night's road contest against the Hillsdale Chargers, turning a deficit into a rout and cruising to a 75-49 victory. The win was the third in four games for GVSU, which improves to 6-4 overall (2-1 GLIAC) after the contest at Dawn Hibbetts Arena in Hillsdale, Michigan.
 
Luke Ryskamp scored a game-high 15 points, and was one of four Lakers to score in double figures. Chris Dorsey and Drake Baar each added 11 points for GVSU, while Danzel Wright added 10 points for GVSU.
 
After finding itself trailing by four (14-10)  with 13 minutes left in the first half, the Lakers offense ignited, outstripping the Chargers in dramatic fashion with a 26-3 run over the next 10 minutes. Six different Lakers scored during the run, including a pair of triples by Ryskamp, five points from Alex Marty and four from Baar.  The run gave Grand Valley State a 40-20 halftime lead.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, the Chargers slowly cut into the Laker lead, and would whittle it down to 14 points on a layup by Nick Czarnowski with 15 minutes left to play in the game. Back to back layups by Chris Dorsey and a layup by Justin Greason would get the lead back up to 20 just two minutes later, however. A 7-2 Laker run, capped by a Danzel Wright three-point basket, would get GVSU's lead up to a then game-high 25 points, which the Lakers would reach several more times as time wound down in the game.
 
The Chargers were unable to get any closer than 22 points for the duration of the game, as they allowed the Lakers to shoot 51.7 percent (30-58) from the field in the game and 50 percent (7-14) from beyond the arc. The Chargers, meanwhile, shot just 29 percent (18-62) from the field and rarely got a second look at the basket on a miss, as the Lakers notched an impressive 39 defensive rebounds on the way to a 49-30 advantage on the boards.
 
Grand Valley State's bench was equally efficient in the nightcap, outscoring their Charger counterparts 34-9 in the game, led by Dorsey's 11.
 
Next up for the team is a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Cavaliers of Walsh University in Canton, Ohio.