Box Score SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers fell on the road, 85-72, to the Lake Superior State Lakers in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play Saturday afternoon at Bud Cooper Gymnasium. GVSU falls to 9-5 on the year and 3-3 in the GLIAC while Lake State advances to 7-5 on the season and 3-3 in the league.
 
Hunter Hale led the Lakers with 24 points, drilling five three-pointers – four of which came in the first half. Kindred Williams pulled in nine rebounds and Isaiah Brock swatted three blocks. As a team, the Lakers shot .456 (26-57) from the field, going 7-15 from three and 13-23 at the line. Lake State hit at a .448 (26-58) clip while going 7-22 from three but 26-32 with free throws.
 
The hot shooting from three helped the Lakers open up a 16-point lead with just over five minutes left in the opening half. Hale hit the four threes and the defense was stifling. Then, the whistle started blowing. Lake State took eight free throws down the stretch and, in a game suddenly without flow, the GVSU offense began to sputter and Lake State whittled the GVSU lead down to six, 36-30, at the break.
 
Lake State picked up right where they left off starting the second half, jumping in front by five within the first three minutes of the second half. More fouls and free throws allowed Lake State to get up big before the teams started trading fouls down the stretch. In total, 46 fouls were called in the game; 25 on GVSU and 21 on LSSU. Lake State made 13 more free throws than GVSU in the contest, the exact differential in the final score.
 
The Lakers look to snap their three-game skid on Thursday (Jan. 10) when they host the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals at 8 PM at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The game can be heard on ESPN 96.1 FM while GVSULakers.com provides links to live stats and vide and @GVSUBasketball provides live Twitter updates.