ALLENDALE, Mich. – The No. 15 Grand Valley State Lakers locked down the Northwood Timberwolves for a 62-45 win Thursday (Jan. 16) night at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena in front of 1,548 fans. The Lakers improve to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the GLIAC to remain tied for first place in the conference. The Lakers will travel to Saginaw Valley on Saturday (Jan. 18) to face the Cardinals at 3 PM.
Jake Van Tubbergen recorded his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the win.
Isaac Gassman drilled a trio of three-pointers for 14 points on the day and
Christian Negron provided 11 points – including three thunderous dunks - and seven rebounds.
The Lakers allowed their fewest points of the season on Thursday, holding Northwood to just a .327 clip from the floor. Despite the strong defense, the Laker offense was slow to get moving itself and found themselves in a 9-9 tie near the midway point of the half. Out of the final media timeout of the first half, the Lakers led 19-17. Then they went on a tear. Three, three-pointers from
Isaac Gassman fueled a 15-2 run to close out the half and put the Lakers up, 34-19, after 20 minutes.
The hot shooting continued with two quick buckets to open the second period and jumped out to a 19-point lead. That would be the largest of the day and the Lakers would never lead by fewer than 12 points the rest of the night, keeping the Timberwolves at arm's length the entire way.
GVSU travels to University Center, Michigan for a GLIAC bout with Saginaw Valley on Saturday at 3 PM. The game can be heard live on ESPN 96.1 FM in Grand Rapids and everywhere on the iHeart app.
