ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers put their five-game winning streak on the line in a tough road test this week, traveling to Ashland to face the Eagles on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 7:30 PM and at the Tiffin Dragons on Saturday (Jan. 13) at 1:00 PM. The Lakers hit the road with an 8-7 overall record and 3-4 mark in the GLIAC while Ashland enters the weekend at 12-3 overall and 5-2 in the league and Tiffin comes in at 5-9 on the year and 1-6 in GLIAC play.
 
The Lakers offense has surged during their five-game win streak, scoring at least 80 points in all five contests. 80 has been the magic number for the Lakers this season, with the team going a perfect 7-0 when they score at least 80 points. Freshman Jake Van Tubbergen has emerged as a premier scoring threat, setting new season and career highs in points in each of his last two games. Van Tubbergen put up 16 points and six rebounds in just 16 minutes of action on the road against Northwood last Thursday before his first career double-double with 18 points and 11 boards against Saginaw Valley at home on Saturday.
 
The Lakers have also shown a deep rotation of players that can contribute in any given game. Ben Lubitz dropped a career-high 20 points in the win against Rochester on Dec. 30 and Chris Dorsey has reemerged as a scoring threat, dropping double-digit points in two straight games. Zach West continues to fly around the basketball court and stuff the stat sheet and Myles Miller has taken the reigns on this now fine-tuned offense as the key facilitator. Big men Drake Baar and Justin Greason have given spirited minutes and been extremely efficient from the floor. Baar shoots a team-best .571 from the field this season, which is fourth-best in the GLIAC.
 
Ashland will serve as a measuring-stick game, a team picked atop the GLIAC South before the season began and boasting the preseason Player of the Year Wendell Davis. The Eagles are 7-1 at home this season and have a seven-game win streak of their own, coming up with a 55-54 win at Northern Michigan last Saturday to keep the streak alive.
 
Ashland has also been a defensive force this season, allowing a GLIAC-low 62.5 points per game, and only have allowed opponents to reach that magical 80-point mark just twice on the year. The Eagles average 73.9 points per game, shooting .476 from the field, while hauling in an average of 36.9 rebounds per contest.
 
Davis has lived up to his preseason billing. He averages 21.5 points a game, which ranks second in the GLIAC, on .519 shooting and collects 7.2 rebounds per contest. He's hit more three-pointers than anyone in the league, draining 46 on the year. Not only can Davis score, he can set his teammates up as well. His 63 assists rank third in the GLIAC. Simply put, Davis is a tough matchup for anybody in the league and the Lakers will have a tall task keeping him in check.
 
Drew Noble also causes problems with his 14.1 points per game and team-high 8.4 rebounds. Ben Haraway and Joey Zahn are each a threat from long range, each knocking down nearly two threes per contest this season. Haraway is the third Eagle to average in double-figures, scoring 11.5 points per game. The balanced, dominant attack from the Eagles makes them hard to defend beyond just Davis.
 
The Lakers lead the all-time series, 18-15, over the Eagles in the 33 historic meetings. The teams first met in three straight seasons from 1971-73, with the Eagles winning all three matchups. The teams wouldn't play again until the NCAA Tournament in 1991 when, again, the Eagles came out on top. The Lakers dominated the 2000s, going 14-3 from 2000-2013, but the Eagles have won three of the four meetings since. GVSU snapped a three-game skid against the Eagles last season with an 85-75 home win.
 
After the Lakers finish with the Eagles, they'll travel on to Tiffin for a Saturday afternoon matchup with the Dragons. Tiffin got off to a slow start this season, entering the weekend with a 5-9 record and 1-6 mark in the GLIAC. But they are coming off a win at Michigan Tech and will look to build on that in their Thursday meeting with Purdue Northwest.
 
Tiffin averages 73.8 points per game this season and shoots .468 from the field. Defensively, they allow 74.7 points per contest and opponents shoot .463 from the field. Austin Adams (15.7 PPG) and Alex Brown (15.1 PPG) have shared the load offensively for the Dragons this season while Shane Waldon contributes 10.9 points per contest. Adams also muscles down 7.6 rebounds per contest.
 
Grand Valley State is 12-2 all-time against Tiffin, having played every season since 2007. The Lakers fell in the first-ever meeting between the two schools back in 1985, but had won each meeting since they resumed play in 2007 until last season, when the Lakers lost at home, 80-72, to the Dragons. GVSU looks to return the favor Saturday as they wrap up their only trip to Ohio this season.
 
The Lakers are flying high on their longest win streak of the season and will see if they can keep it rolling in a tough road test across state lines. The way the offense has played as of late, they should feel confident despite the stout defense that awaits them in Ashland. The grind of the GLIAC schedule wears on and you can follow all the action live on GVSULakers.com or hear the games on ESPN 96.1 FM in Grand Rapids and everywhere on the iHeart app.