vs. #14 Drury (Monday, 7:00 p.m.): Watch | Listen | Live Stats

Grand Valley State looks to pull off its third consecutive upset on Monday night (Mar. 13), as the Lakers match up with #14 Drury in the Midwest Region championship game in Ashland, Ohio. The winner of the 7:00 p.m. contest captures the regional title and advances to the NCAA Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on March 22.

The Lakers will play their third straight NCAA Tournament game as the underdog. Grand Valley State, the region's seventh seed, toppled second-seeded and #6-nationally ranked Lewis by a 72-70 score on Friday night (Mar. 11) on a game-winning jumper from junior guard Janae Langs with 3.7 seconds remaining. The following day, GVSU tallied a 63-56 victory over GLIAC rival Saginaw Valley State - the sixth seed in the region - to advance to Monday night's title game.

Drury (26-4 overall), the region's fourth seed, topped fifth-seed Quincy 79-71 in Friday's quarterfinal round. The Panthers then pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the entire tournament on Saturday, as DU bounced top seed and #3-nationally ranked Ashland 86-60 in the second semifinal.

There are links above to watch the free online webcast (provided by Ashland) or listen to the radio broadcast of the championship game, as well as a link to follow the live stats. The game will be aired on WTKG-AM 1230, with fifth year GVSU play-by-play announcer DJ Foster calling the action.

Grand Valley State trails Drury in the all-time series by a 4-2 margin; the Lakers and Panthers have not played since the 2010-11 NCAA Tournament, when Drury won 67-60 on Mar. 11, 2011.

Despite trailing in the series, one of GVSU's two victories over the Panthers had substantial meaning. The Lakers topped Drury on Mar. 13, 2006 by a 91-76 score. The significance behind that victory is it was in the Midwest Region championship game and sent Grand Valley State to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second year in a row.

From there, the Lakers went on to knock off Charleston (74-59), Cal State Chico (76-63), and American International (58-52) to claim the program's first-ever Division II National Championship.

Overall, GVSU is 13-9 in 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the Elite Eight (or national quarterfinals) in 2004-05 and again in 2005-06. One more win on Monday night would send the Lakers to South Dakota next week for the national quarterfinals.

Grand Valley State enters Monday's game with a 24-9 overall record; the team's 24 victories are tied for the third-most in program history. Those 24 wins are the most since the 2005-06 national championship season. The Lakers have won six of their last seven games overall and are 3-1 in Ashland's Kates Gymnasium - the site of the regional championship game - over the past nine days.

In last week's GLIAC Tournament, GVSU defeated Saginaw Valley State (76-51) in the semifinals before falling to #5 Ashland (70-53) in the championship game last Sunday (Mar. 6). Grand Valley State won a pair of neutral site games already in he regional tournament over #6 Lewis and again over SVSU before facing Drury in a third straight neutral site game on Monday.

Against ranked teams this season, GVSU is 2-2. Both wins came over Lewis (Nov. 25 and Mar. 11), with the losses coming to Ashland (Dec. 3 and Mar. 6). Drury was ranked #14 in the latest Division II national rankings, which came out prior to the regional tournaments.

One common link between Grand Valley State and Drury is both teams' prolific shooting from three-point range. The Lakers lead the GLIAC in all three categories from beyond the arc: three-pointers made (308), attempted threes (809), and three-point percentage (38.1). The 308 made trifectas are not only a school record, but this year's team has shattered the previous Laker record of 218 three-pointers in 2008-09.

Drury, at least statistically, is an even better three-point shooting team than GVSU. The Panthers have made 274 trifectas, but shoot it at a 43.6 percent clip from beyond the arc - the best percentage in all of Division II. In 14 of Drury's 30 games this year, the Panthers have made at least 10 three-pointers. Grand Valley State has hit double-digit trifectas in 17 of 33 contests this season.

The Lakers are also first in the GLIAC in fewest turnovers per game (12.1), scoring defense (57.1), and opponents field goal percentage (38.3). GVSU has the third-highest scoring offense (72.8) in the conference and rank fourth in field goal percentage (43.8). In attempting to defend Drury's potent three-point shooters, GVSU allows opponents to shoot just 30.1 percent from downtown, the third-best mark among GLIAC teams.

Among teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), Drury leads the league in scoring offense (77.3) and scoring margin ( 14.6), while the Panthers' field goal percentage (.469) is second-best, behind only Lewis. In fact, Drury shoots the three-pointer so well that its three-point percentage is higher than all but two of the GLVC's 16 teams' field goal percentages. Like GVSU, Drury's opponents shoot just 28.1 percent from beyond the arc, the second-lowest figure in the conference.

Senior guard Annie Armstrong leads the Panthers with 15.4 points per game and is one of the most lethal shooters in the country. Armstrong shoots 46.0 percent from beyond the arc and has made 69 three-pointers, but also is 101-of-108 from the free throw line for an incredible 93.5 percentage. Junior guard Alice Heinzler posts 10.9 points per game and has hit 68 trifectas, while shooting 44.2 percent from downtown. Another guard, senior Addy Roller has a team-high 112 assists, scores 7.9 points per game, and has just 48 turnovers.

Monday night's winner advances to the NCAA Elite Eight, where that team will face the winner of the Central Region (either #18 Emporia State or #19 Pittsburg State) in the national quarterfinals. That game will take place in Sioux Falls next Tuesday (Mar. 22) at 9:30 p.m.