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SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers men's basketball team opens Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament play this Wednesday in a quarterfinal matchup against the Lake Superior State Lakers at 7:00 PM. Higher seeds host the opening round of the tournament, so seventh-seeded GVSU travels to Sault Ste. Marie for the second time in as many weeks to face the two-seeded LSSU Lakers. This will be the third meeting of the season between the Northern Division rivals after splitting their regular season meetings.
 
Grand Valley State won the first meeting of the season, 66-62, at the DeltaPlex in downtown Grand Rapids back in January. The Lakers defense badgered Akaemji Williams, one of the league's best players, to just 6-of-24 shooting to allow GVSU to grind out the victory. Williams responded in the second meeting, last week at LSSU, with 22 points and six assists plus four steals to help LSSU even the season series with an 85-73 win.
 
Grand Valley State has been led offensively by their young stars all season. Freshman Jake Van Tubbergen and transfer Hunter Hale will both make their first GLIAC Tournament appearances Wednesday. Hale, who currently ranks ninth all-time in single-season three-pointers with 66 this year, has led the Lakers all season in average scoring for the entire season while Van Tubbergen averages nearly 12 points and seven rebounds a game for his freshman campaign while ranking fifth in the GLIAC in shooting percentage at .563 from the floor.
 
Seniors Myles Miller, who's 89 assists lead the Lakers, and Drake Baar, who is coming off a 19-point performance against No. 3 Ferris State, will look to provide the veteran leadership in tournament play. Baar ranks seventh in the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.557). Fellow senior Chris Dorsey had a career day last week in Sault Ste. Marie, dropping career highs of 21 points and nine rebounds. He'll hope to replicate that in the quarterfinal matchup Wednesday night.
 
Williams has been a problem for LSSU opposition at both ends of the floor all season long. His 19.2 points per game rank third in the GLIAC while his 85 steals blow the rest of the GLIAC away, with nearly 30 more than the second-leading swiper in the league. Michael Nicholson, who was limited to just 11 minutes last week because of foul trouble, is the leading rebounder for the Lakers (7.7 per game) and leads the entire GLIAC in scoring efficiency with a .651 clip from the field. Malik Adams ranks sixth in field goal percentage with a .562 mark.
 
This is the 13^th time in head coach Ric Wesley's 14-year career that GVSU has qualified for the GLIAC Tournament. Whichever Lakers advance to the semifinals will likely move on to Big Rapids, Michigan, home of the top-seeded Ferris State Bulldogs. The highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals will host the second round on Saturday. For full coverage of the Lakers run through the GLIAC Tournament, stay with GVSULakers.com as well as the Lakers men's basketball Twitter and Facebook pages.