CALEDONIA, Mich. – The Grand Valley State Lakers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 after a 55-53, buzzer-beater win over the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament semifinals Saturday (March 9) at the Davenport University Student Center. The Lakers will face Davenport Sunday in the championship match at 3:00 PM.
 
Jeremiah Ferguson hit a baseline, fadeaway jumper as the horn sounded to give the Lakers the narrow win. With Davenport still NCAA Tournament ineligible as a second-year program, the Lakers earn the GLIAC's automatic bid by making it to Sunday's game. The 7-seeded Lakers have now won six of their last seven games.
 
The Lakers got off to a slow start, with the Rangers opening up a 17-5 lead before the Lakers found their rhythm.  An 11-0 GVSU run stormed the Lakers back to take their first lead of the game (19-17), but the Rangers would answer with a 7-2 run of their own and the Lakers trailed 26-21 at the break.
 
The low-scoring affair would see both teams grinding out possessions and milking clock throughout the second half with seven ties and seven lead changes throughout the game. Hunter Hale drilled free throws to tie the game. Ferguson would miss a three with under a minute to go but Shaquan McArthur muscled down an offensive rebound to allow the Lakers the final possession of regulation and they would take full advantage.
 
This is the first time the Lakers are in the GLIAC Tournament finals since 2009, when they fell to Findlay. Sunday's championship game can be heard live on ESPN 96.1 FM in Grand Rapids and everywhere on the iHeart app while GVSULakers.com provides links to all live coverage and @GVSUBasketball posts live, in-game Twitter updates.