Box Score MARQUETTE, Mich. – The No. 21 Grand Valley State Lakers pulled out a thrilling double-overtime win, 82-79, over the Northern Michigan Wildcats Thursday (Feb. 20) night at the Berry Events Center. The Lakers improve to 21-5 overall and 14-4 in GLIAC play to remain at least tied for first place in the conference standings with two games left.
 
Jake Van Tubbergen's career night led the way for GVSU as he set a new career high with 39 points while securing 13 rebounds to lead the Lakers to victory. He wen 15-23 from the field and 8-11 from the free throw line while also contributing two steals and a block on the defensive end. His 39 points are the most scored by a Laker in a single game since Joe Modderman's 40 points on March 1, 1997.
 
A slow start to the game saw GVSU trailing 25-24 at halftime and they trailed, 53-41, with 10:00 left in regulation. Van Tubbergen hit some big shots to get the Lakers back into the game as they kept
 
Then, the final minute was chaos.
 
The Lakers got a tie-up on the defensive end, trailing by one, with 20 seconds left. After driving the length of the floor, GVSU lost the ball out of bounds along the baseline, giving possession back to the Wildcats with just five seconds left.
 
Van Tubbergen got a tip on the inbound, though, and with the final seconds ticking off and the ball loose on the floor, Christian Negron pried the ball from the pile of bodies and chucked the ball towards the net. His shot missed, but Jeremiah Ferguson – who had 22 points for the game, including 20 after halftime – was fouled with 0.2 seconds left on a put-back attempt. Ferguson missed the first free throw, sending the gym into a frenzy. But he would knock down the second to force overtime.
 
Grand Valley State would take a four-point lead with a minute left in the first overtime but a pair of threes by NMU sandwiching a Laker jumper forced a second overtime. Once again, the Lakers would take a two-score lead in the second overtime and wind up holding on for the three-point win.
 
The Lakers are back in action on Saturday (Feb. 22) when they take on the Michigan Tech Huskies at 3:00 PM. The game can be heard live on ESPN 96.1 FM and the iHeart app.