After leading by a point at halftime, Michigan Tech used a run midway through the second half to open a double-digit lead over Grand Valley State and eventually closed out the Lakers in Houghton by a 72-64 final score. The Huskies shot 55.6 percent from the field and went 11-of-15 at the line over the final 20 minutes to close out the victory in a game between teams that were tied at 8-3 in GLIAC play entering the matchup.

With the loss, Grand Valley State drops to 12-7 on the season and 8-4 in conference action, while Michigan Tech improves to 11-8 overall and 9-3 in league play. The teams were part of a three-way tie (along with Findlay) for second place in the GLIAC standings when the night began. GVSU continues a tough stretch of three games in five days and five games in 10 days with an afternoon game at Northern Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 28). Tipoff is at 3:00 p.m. in Marquette.

The Lakers won the rebounding battle 44-32 and had three players reach double figures in the scoring column. Senior Luke Ryskamp went 9-of-12 at the line and tallied 15 points and seven rebounds, while classmate Trevin Alexander added 14 points and nine rebounds. Alexander was 6-for-10 from the field and picked up three steals on the defensive end. Sophomore center Justin Greason notched 11 points and five boards.

For the game, Grand Valley State shot 37.9 percent from the field and 4-of-19 from beyond the arc. The Lakers went 16-of-22 at the line. Michigan Tech shot well over the final 20 minutes to finish at 43.9 percent shooting, though MTU connected on only 4-of-19 three-point attempts. The Huskies closed the game at the line with 18-of-24 shooting overall on freebies.

Turnovers were big in Michigan Tech's favor, as the Lakers committed 17 turnovers and only were able to force eight MTU miscues; the Huskies led 14-4 in points off turnovers.

In a low-scoring first half, GVSU opened a 15-11 advantage at the 7:47 mark with five straight points from Ryskamp. The guard scored on consecutive layups - the second of which was an old-fashioned three-point play to build the four-point lead. Greason would add a three-point play of his own at the 5:24 mark to keep the Lakers in front at 21-17, but Michigan Tech scored eight straight points over the next three minutes to open a 25-21 advantage.

The teams would trade buckets the rest of the half, with Alexander scooping up a missed shot and putting it back up and in right before the halftime buzzer to make the score 29-28 at the intermission in MTU's favor. It was a defensive battle in the opening 20 minutes; Grand Valley State shot 34.6 percent from the field and 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, while the Huskies were at 33.3 percent and only 2-of-12 from downtown.

Junior Myles Miller scored on a layup in the opening minute of the second half to keep the deficit at 31-30, but that is as close as the Lakers could get in the stanza. Leading 47-42 with 9:01 to play, the Huskies started a mini 14-7 run with freshman guard Tommy Lucca's three-pointer capping the run with 4:25 to play and putting the Michigan Tech out to a 61-49 advantage.

GVSU continued to chip away at the deficit and pulled within five points at 67-62 after a pair of Chris Dorsey free throws, but the Huskies would knock down 5-of-8 free throws over the final 37 seconds to seal the home victory.

Miller supplied seven points and four assists, while sophomore Zach West grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Ben Lubitz came off the bench and knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the opening half. The Lakers had a 14-8 advantage in offensive boards in the game, leading to a 13-4 edge in second chance points. MTU led in the paint, 40-32.

After Saturday's contest at Northern Michigan, Grand Valley State will return to Allendale to take on Ferris State at 8:00 p.m. on Monday night (Jan. 30).