KENOSHA, Wisc. – The Grand Valley State Lakers used a strong second half and big-time performances from Jake Van Tubbergen and Hunter Hale to pull away from the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers, 88-77, Thursday (Nov. 29) night in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opener. GVSU improves to 5-1 on the year and 1-0 in league play while Parkside drops to 1-3 on the year and 0-3 in the conference.
 
The Lakers had another outstanding shooting performance Thursday, hitting at a .567 (34-60) clip. The team went 7-13 from three, 13-19 from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Rangers 36-26 on the night while turning the ball over just nine times.

"I was really proud of the way our guys handled themselves tonight," said head coach Ric Wesley. "This was a tough environment and Parkside came out very strong in front of their home crowd, but we weathered the storm. We got some great individual efforts, but everybody gave their all tonight and we really played well as a team."
 
Jake Van Tubbergen had a career night, scoring 25 points – going 11-15 from the field - while pulling down eight rebounds. Hunter Hale had 20 points and was perfect from deep, going 4-4 from three while Jeremiah Ferguson contributed 14 points and five assists. Isaiah Brock played stout defense and also made all four shot attempts, scoring eight points and yanking down six rebounds.
 
Wisconsin-Parkside hit 10 of their 18 three-point attempts in the first half to keep pace with the Lakers, taking a 44-43 lead into halftime. But the Lakers stability and varied scoring attack stayed consistent throughout, and the Lakers were able to pull away late for the double-digit win.
 
GVSU is back at it in league play Saturday (Dec. 1) afternoon, traveling to Purdue Northwest for a 2:00 PM ET (1 CT in Hammond, Indiana) matchup. GVSULakers.com will provide links to live stats and video while @GVSUBasketball provides live Twitter updates.