ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers ended the game on a 13-1 run to storm back and down the Ashland Eagles, 64-57, Thursday night in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. Freshman Jake Van Tubbergen notched his third double-double of his freshman season, leading all scorers with 18 points. The Lakers improve to 13-12 on the year and 8-9 in the GLIAC while the Eagles fall to 16-9 on the year and 9-8 in conference play.
 


The Lakers shot .455 from the floor (25-55) for the game, including 5-13 from three and 9-10 from the free throw line. Ashland shot .388 (19-49) from the field, 4-17 from three and 15-23 from the free throw line. The Lakers out-rebounded Ashland, 35-27, for the game.
 
Van Tubbergen finished with 18 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and season-high four blocks. He went 8-15 from the floor and knocked in his only free throw in a pressure situation late in the second half. Ben Lubitz also scored in double figures for the Lakers, adding ten points thanks to a pair of threes. Ben Haraway finished as the top scorer for Ashland with 16 points. Wendell Davis, one of the leading scorers and three-point shooters in the GLIAC, was held to just four points without hitting a three.
 
Van Tubbergen contributed seven of the Lakers first 11 points. Trailing 5-4, he drilled a corner three to put the Lakers up a pair, then got the rebound off his own miss for a put back lay in to break a 7-7 tie and then drilled a midrange jumper with the shot clock expiring to snap a 9-9 deadlock and give GVSU the lead once again. The Lakers then went on a 7-2 run, holding the Eagles to no field goals, just a pair of made free throws, over the next five minutes. Ashland responded with a three from Drew Noble to shrink the Laker lead to 16-14 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Lubitz and Zach West answered with back-to-back threes of their own and the Lakers opened the largest lead by either side, leading by six. The teams would trade buckets over next several minutes, keeping things within one possession as the clock dipped under five minutes to play in the half. That trend would carry to the half as the Lakers headed to the locker room up 30-28.
 
The Eagles came out hot in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the period. Justin Greason settled things down with a jumper in the lane and the Lakers would battle back to a 38-36 deficit five minutes into the half. The Lakers kept it within one possession much of the half and finally regained the lead with six minutes to go, 51-50, on a baseline jumper from Van Tubbergen. Marsalis Hamilton answered with a layup of his own to seesaw the Eagles back in front on the ensuing possession.
 
Ashland would jump ahead by five, but Van Tubbergen again had the answer with a runner in the lane, drawing the foul en route to the hoop for a three-point play. That sparked a 13-1 run for the Lakers to end the game. Zach West pulled down a massive offensive rebound with under 40 seconds left to secure an extra possession for the Lakers as they ran away in the final minute.
 
The Lakers split their two regular season meetings with the Eagles and now sit just a game behind Ashland for the six-seed in the GLIAC Tournament with three games remaining. GVSU returns to action on Saturday (Feb. 17) when they host the Tiffin Dragons for Beach Day and Senior Day at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena at 1:00 PM. Tickets are available on GVSULakers.com and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and ESPN Radio 96.1 FM in Grand Rapids and everywhere on the iHeart app.