ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers will hit the road for a pair of crucial Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contests this week, facing the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Thursday (Feb. 14) at 8:00 PM and the Northwood Timberwolves on Saturday (Feb. 16) at 6:00 PM. These are the last two road games of the regular season.
 
With five games left in the regular season, the Lakers find themselves in a fight for the post-season as they sit in eighth place in the conference with a 6-9 conference record and 12-11 overall mark. The top eight teams in the league will qualify for the GLIAC Tournament, so the Lakers will look to stay in pole position. GVSU is coming off two tough home losses. They erased a 19-point deficit and took a two-possession lead over Purdue Northwest last Thursday, but couldn't hold on down the stretch. Then on Saturday they had the lead with less than a minute to go in regulation but eventually fell, 80-79, in overtime to Wisconsin-Parkside.
 
Hunter Hale continues to provide a deep threat with 69 made threes this season. He's the GLIAC leader in made triples and currently sits tied for sixth all-time in a GVSU single season, matching Ryan Sabin (2013-14) and Joe Modderman (1996-97). The all-time record is 94, set by Jason Jamerson in the 2007-08 season.
 
Hale hit four threes in the first meeting with the Cardinals back on January 10 as his 25 points led the Lakers to an 85-78 win. Jeremiah Ferguson scored 18 points, then a season high, and dished five assists in the win. The Lakers have now won four of the last five against Saginaw Valley, but haven't won in University Center, Michigan since 2015. Darnell Hoskins Jr. scored 15 points to lead the Cardinals last time around, going 4-14 from three. He has the most attempts from long-range (165) of any GLIAC player this season. The Cardinals are currently on the outside looking in on the GLIAC Tournament, sitting at 4-11 in the league and 8-15 overall.
 
GVSU also got a victory over Northwood back in January, downing the Timberwolves 73-60 at the GVSU Fieldhouse. Hale, Ferguson and Jake Van Tubbergen all scored in double figures while the Laker defense held Northwood to just a .368 clip from the floor. Three Timberwolves average double figures in scoring this season, led by Alec Marty's 14.7 points per game. Northwood has been playing great basketball since that matchup in mid-January, winning five of their last seven games to catapult into seventh place in the league at 8-7 with an 11-12 overall record.
 
The Lakers will be in playoff mode for the rest of the season, needing as many wins as they can to secure a spot in the GLIAC Tournament. The final three games of the regular season will be at home, so GVSU hopes to end the road season on a positive note and put themselves in position to control their own destiny.