LYNN STATS | VIDEO
BARRY STATS | VIDEO

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The Grand Valley State men's basketball team trades in the lake effect for the tropical life this holiday weekend in the Barry Invitational. The Lakers travel to Florida to face the Lynn Fighting Knights on Friday (Nov. 24) and the host Barry Buccaneers Saturday (Nov. 25) in a rare regular season matchup of non-regional, Division II foes. This will be the second-ever meeting between the Lakers and both Lynn and Barry.

Grand Valley State has made a habit this season of sharing the load offensively. In each of their three wins, the Lakers have seen at least four players score in double figures; five Lakers scored double digits in the win last Thursday against Grace Bible. Hunter Hale, a transfer from Central Michigan, has scored at least 10 points in all four games and has knocked down a team-best 10 three-pointers. The Lakers are out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 11 boards per contest this year. Chris Pearl, another newcomer after transferring from Sienna Heights, is a big reason why after hauling in double-digit rebounds in both games opening weekend. He hopes to get back on the floor this week after missing the two mid-week games. 

The only meeting with Lynn came 16 years ago in November 2001 with the Lakers falling 90-78 in a neutral site meeting. The current Lynn squad jumped right into conference play and has started 0-2 against a pair of Sunshine State Conference rivals, Nova Southeastern and Rollins. Both losses came by six points. The opener against Nova Southeastern saw Lynn trailing by six at halftime. They slashed the deficit to two points with under two minutes remaining, but couldn't complete the comeback. They trailed Rollins by nine at the break, a deficit that proved too much to overcome. The Fighting Knights have taken an average of 29 threes between the two contests, a perimeter game the Lakers will have to be on the lookout for after Grace Bible knocked down 16 3's at the Fieldhouse last week.

The back-end of the weekend pits the Lakers against the Buccaneers, who were ranked No. 12 in the preseason NABC coaches' poll. An NCAA Tournament team a year ago, the high-flying Barry offense is off to a hot start this season. They began by beating Auburn in an exhibition game, put up 121 points in a lopsided win over St. Thomas, then began SSC play with a tight road win against Eckerd, 93-89, behind 28 points from Sunday Dech. As a team, the Bucs are shooting .583 from the field through their first two games and just under 50% from downtown (33-67) with Sawyer Glick leading the way on 11-23 three-point shooting. The Lakers lone matchup wtih Barry was almost exactly a decade ago, when the Lakers beat the Buccaneers, 53-46, in 2007.  

For the Lakers, this a great opportunity to bond as a team, enjoy some fun in the sun, and get some tough competitive play before the GLIAC season begins next week. While there will be some fun activities planned, GVSU knows they have work to do if they want to extend their three-game winning streak and make it a successful weekend. We'll see if the team can keep their tough rebounding and tenacious defense going strong as they celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday across the country.