ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State men's basketball team snapped their three-game skid with an 85-78 win over Saginaw Valley State Thursday (Jan. 10) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers improve to 10-5 on the year and 4-3 in GLIAC play while the Cardinals fall to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
 
Hunter Hale scored a game-high 25 points, going 8-15 from the floor and 4-7 from three. Jeremiah Ferguson had 18 points, five assists and a steal while Isaiah Brock pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
Hot shooting led to a back-and-forth first half. GVSU shot .585 (31-53) for the day, including a 17-28 clip in the first half. The Lakers also went 7-12 from three in the first 20 minutes while Saginaw Valley was 8-14 from beyond the arc through 20 minutes. The Lakers scored the first four points, but then found themselves trailing 20-17 midway through the period. Then the threes started raining and the Lakers went up by as many as 12. Saginaw followed that up with an 11-0 run to get it back to a one-point game before Ferguson got an and-one finish then beat the buzzer with a lay in to make it a 46-40 lead at half.
 
The Lakers came out strong in the second half. After Shaquan McArthur kept a loose ball alive after his miss, Isaiah Brock rescued the possession and kicked out to Hale for a three. That sparked an 8-2 run across the first three minutes to force a Saginaw timeout. Ferguson had a pair of nifty layups to keep the Lakers handily ahead.
 
As the half crossed the midway point, the Cardinals regained their hot three-point shooting to whittle the deficit down as low as four, getting within 67-63 at the under-8 media timeout. But the Lakers responded with an 8-0 run and would keep the Cardinals at arm's length down the stretch.
 
The Lakers are back at home Saturday (Jan. 12) to host the Northwood Timberwolves at 8 PM. The Lakers follow that with a five-game road trip, including a trip to the Upper Peninsula, so the final home game of January will be important for the Lakers to build momentum. GVSULakers.com will provide links to live video and stats while the game is broadcast on ESPN 96.1 FM in Grand Rapids.