ALLENDALE, Mich. – Winners of eight of their last ten games, the Lakers find themselves in the thick of a tight race for positioning in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament. The Lakers are 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the conference, good for seventh place in the league, but the third through ninth seed are separated by just three games with eight to play. Six of the Lakers' last eight games will be played against teams currently ahead of them in the standings, a chance for the red-hot GVSU side to gain some ground.
 
They start that road against the team directly ahead of them in the standings, the Michigan Tech Huskies. Tech enters the weekend 10-9 on the year and 7-5 in the conference. This will be the second and final regular season meeting between the teams. Michigan Tech earned a ten-point victory in the first meeting at the DeltaPlex in down town Grand Rapids. The Lakers had a strong second half in the game, whittling down an 18-point half time deficit to single digits before the eventual 78-68 loss.
 
The Laker offense has erupted since then, with head coach Ric Wesley acknowledging the second half of the Tech game as a turning point in the season. The Lakers fell in overtime two days later to Northern Michigan, but then began this 8-2 run over their last ten games. They've scored 80-plus points in nine of those ten contests and have twice reached triple digits. The Lakers are coming off a 107-65 win over Purdue Northwest, the most points scored by a GVSU team since 2010.
 
While the offense has taken off, the Lakers remain a consistently balanced attack. Six players scored in double figures Saturday, led by Ben Lubitz's 21 points on seven made three-pointers. It was the most made three-pointers by a Laker since Jason Jamerson hit seven against Aquinas on December 21, 2007. The GVSU record for made threes in a game is eight, which has been done four times and hasn't happened since 1989. The recent surge of offense has skyrocketed the Lakers to third in the GLIAC in scoring this season, averaging 78.3 points per game.
 
Hunter Hale knocked down six threes one week prior against Ferris State. The two sophomores lead the Lakers in made threes this season. Hale ranks fourth in the GLIAC with 52 made three-pointers while Lubitz is now 13^th in conference, knocking down 33 triples. Myles Miller, who played sparingly last Saturday due to illness, has emerged as one of the top scoring threats in the league since turning the calendar to 2018. Not including the four minutes he played on Saturday, Miller has scored over 20 points in three of his last four games.
 
The Lakers shot a season-best 61.5% from the field on Saturday, led by a highly-efficient performance from their post players. Senior Drake Baar hit six of his seven shots, junior Justin Greason with three-of-four and freshman Jake Van Tubbergen went five-of-six from the field. Van Tubbergen ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage this season (58.5%) while Baar is fifth in the GLIAC at 57.5%.
 
Van Tubbergen collected his second double-double of his freshman campaign on Saturday. His 12 boards helped the Lakers to a +27 rebound margin for the game. The Lakers 40.5 rebounds per game and +7.7 average margin both lead the GLIAC this year. Much like their scoring, the Lakers rebounding has been mostly by committee this season. Despite leading the league as a team, only Van Tubbergen is in the top 20 in the league in individual rebounding (10^th, 6.1 RPG).
 
While the Lakers have plenty to be confident about heading to the Upper Peninsula, they are greeted by one of the top players in the GLIAC in Michigan Tech's Kyle Monroe. Monroe's 26.2 points per game lead the league and he ranks third in the GLIAC in rebounding with 7.9 a game. Monroe collected 28 points in the first meeting with the Lakers this season, thanks in large part to a 16-16 performance at the free throw line. Monroe is the reigning GLIAC North Player of the Week and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Division II Player of the Week. Monroe has earned four GLIAC Player of the Week honors this season, including each of the last two weeks.
 
Bryan Heath is another dynamic scoring threat for the Huskies, averaging 12.2 points a game and offering a good outside shot plus the ability to drive and penetrate defenses. A.J. Grazulis is an imposing presence in the post and creates traffic and draws bodies to allow the long and athletic Monroe to operate.
 
After a tough rematch with the Huskies, the Lakers shift up to Marquette, Michigan to face off with the Northern Michigan Wildcats. The Lakers had a double-digit lead in the second half of the first meeting at the GVSU Fieldhouse but wound up falling, 71-68, in overtime. Northern Michigan currently sits tied for third in the GLIAC at 8-4 with an 11-8 overall record.
 
Juniors Isaiah Johnson (17.9 PPG) and Naba Echols (17.6 PPG) lead the Wildcats offensive attack. Johnson averages over two made three-pointers per game while Echols makes his living at the free throw line, where he averages 6.5 attempts per game. Johnson is also the team's leading rebounder with 6.2 per game. The team features just two seniors, neither of whom are regular starters. Eddie Tornes has played a big role off the bench for the Wildcats this year, averaging 10.3 points and nearly a steal per game.
 
Long travel and tough rematches against quality GLIAC opponents will test the red-hot Lakers this weekend. As the calendar flips to February and the team enters the final eight games of the regular season, there is still plenty to be decided. The Lakers are still well in the mix to host an opening round GLIAC Tournament game and a win, or two, this week would go a long way towards that cause.