vs. #12 Saginaw Valley State (Thursday, 8:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
at Hillsdale (Saturday, 3:00 p.m.): Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
The Grand Valley State men's basketball team takes part in its fourth and final "split" week of the season with one home game and one road contest this weekend. GVSU will take on #12 Saginaw Valley State in Allendale on Thursday night (Feb. 18) before facing Hillsdale on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) in its final road game of the regular season.
 
Thursday night's home game versus conference leader SVSU - billed as The Battle of the Valleys - is an 8:00 p.m. start, while Saturday's trip to Hillsdale is a 3:00 p.m. contest against the Chargers.
 
There are links above to follow along to the radio broadcast of both games, as well as links to follow the live stats. The games will be aired on WTKG-AM 1230 and WMUS 107.9 FM, with fifth year play-by-play announcer DJ Foster calling the action. Thursday's game against Saginaw Valley State will also be televised live on CN900 (Comcast XFinity).
 
This is a key late season stretch for the Lakers, who are 16-9 overall and 10-9 in conference play. GVSU has split each of their last two weekend sets of games, going 1-1 at Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech on Feb. 4-6 and earning another split last weekend. Grand Valley State is in a four-way tie with Hillsdale, Northwood, and Walsh for sixth place in the league standings, while only three of those four teams will advance to the GLIAC Tournament.
 
Walsh, a member of the league's South Division, will likely earn an automatic bid in the tournament, as both the North and South Division's top three teams automatically advance to the tournament. It would appear that two of the GVSU-Hillsdale-Northwood trio will also make the GLIAC Tournament, which begins on March 1.
 
Grand Valley State split a pair of tough North Division contests last week, starting with an 84-70 home victory over Lake Superior State on Thursday. At halftime, GVSU held onto a slim 35-34 advantage, but outscored the visiting Lakers by a 49-36 margin in the second half, which included a convincing 17-2 run to close out the win. Four Lakers reached double-digits, led by junior guard Luke Ryskamp's 24 points and senior center Chaz Rollins' 20 points and eight boards. GVSU connected on 46 percent of its field goal attempts and went 30-of-42 at the line, while LSSU was just 9-for-12.
 
The Lakers battled back in the second half at Northwood on Saturday - cutting a 40-24 halftime deficit to just two points late in the game - but were unable to upend the Timberwolves, falling 79-73. While GVSU shot 42 percent from the floor and made 11-of-25 three-point attempts, Northwood made a dozen trifectas and went 17-of-19 at the free throw line. Senior guard Aaron Hayes scored 18 points, his 14th consecutive game in double-digits, and classmate Ricardo Carbajal added 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
 
Heading into this weekend's contests, Grand Valley State remains as the league leader in free throws made (17.1) and attempted (25.0) per game, while also owning the top rebounding margin (+6.5) in the conference. Defensively, the Lakers have been stout for most of the season, ranking second in both fewest points allowed (67.5) and opponents field goal percentage (40.2). GVSU's 39.0 total rebounds per game is also second-most in the league.
 
Rollins has certainly aided that rebounding tally, as the senior ranks fourth in the GLIAC with 8.6 rebounds per game. He has posted eight games of double-digit rebounds. If Rollins maintains his average for the rest of the season, it'll be the highest single-season rebounding mark by a Laker since Callistus Eziukwu notched 8.8 boards per game in 2007-08. GVSU has outrebounded 21 of its 25 opponents this season.
 
One of three Lakers averaging double-digits in points, Rollins' 10.9 points per game ranks third on the team. Ryskamp is the team leader and 22nd in the GLIAC with 13.5 points per game, while Hayes is 25th in the conference with 13.0 points per game. Hayes and junior Trevin Alexander rank 13th and 14th, respectively, with 32 and 31 steals.
 
GVSU is looking to exact revenge on both of this weekend's opponents after losses to those teams in the first meeting of the season. On Jan. 28, the Lakers fell to Saginaw Valley State 66-56 despite owning an early 30-15 advantage. Two days later, Grand Valley State dropped a 76-63 decision at home to Hillsdale after the Chargers outscored GVSU 39-28 in the second half.
 
The overall GLIAC leaders, Saginaw Valley State is near the top-10 in the national rankings and owns a 21-4 record, plus a 17-2 mark in conference play. The Cardinals have won their last nine games, having not lost since Jan. 16 at Northwood, when NU's point guard Maurice Jones scored 39 points in a 94-84 upset. SVSU has rolled off nine close wins in a row since that loss, as none of those nine victories have been by more than 10 points.
 
A perfect 12-0 at home, the Cardinals are a very good 8-4 on the road this season, having won their last five road contests. In that stretch, SVSU has won at Lake Superior State, Hillsdale, Ferris State, Michigan Tech, and Northern Michigan. Saginaw Valley State's road losses are at Northwood, Findlay, Lewis, and Bellarmine.
 
SVSU junior forward CJ Turnage is in the running for GLIAC Player of the Year honors, as he leads the Cardinals with 16.4 points per game and is second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per contest and 75 assists. He also shoots 56.0 percent from the field. Senior guard Damon Bozeman is posting 14.5 points per game and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per contest., while junior guard Garrett Hall is a strong shooter off the bench, averaging 11.3 points per game.
 
At 14-9 overall and part of the four-way tie at 10-9 in GLIAC play, Hillsdale lost its next three games after defeating GVSU, but rebounded to win both games against Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan last weekend. Like most teams, Hillsdale is very good at home, owning a 9-2 record in Potter Arena, including the two victories last weekend over the U.P. schools.
 
In a tie with Grand Valley State, Hillsdale also plays SVSU and Ferris State in its final three games, which are also the Lakers' other two remaining opponents. The Chargers rank first, second, and third in the GLIAC in field goal, three-point, and free throw percentage, respectively, but give up 73.5 points per game, ranking 10th out of 16 teams in the conference.
 
Perhaps Turnage's top competition for conference Player of the Year honors is Hillsdale's Kyle Cooper. The senior forward leads the GLIAC at 22.9 points per game and is second with 9.7 rebounds per game. He is 1st in the league with a 46.7 three-point percentage and second in made field goals, defensive rebounds, and minutes per game. Sophomore guard Stedman Lowry is scoring 14.3 points per game and his 62 three-pointers are third in the league, while senior center Jason Pretzer adds 10.1 points and shots 55.1 percent from the field.
 
GVSU closes the regular season next Thursday night (Feb. 25) at 8:00 p.m., as the Lakers host West Michigan rival Ferris State.