#24 Grand Valley State claimed a key 80-69 GLIAC road win at Parkside Saturday afternoon. The Lakers improve to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in GLIAC action, while Parkside falls to 5-5 and 3-2. GVSU will host Southern Indiana Monday (Dec. 20) in big regional matchup beginning at 7 p.m.
Saturday's road game at Parkside was a game of runs from the onset. Parkside led by as many as seven points (17-10) in the opening 10 minutes, but the Lakers battled back and took a 22-21 lead with 8:51 left in the open stanza on a layup from guard
Ja'Kavien Lewis. The Lakers went on a 7-0 run with an
Isaac Gassman three-pointer, a pair of free throws from
Deleon Brown and a jumper by
Jake Van Tubbergen to build a 31-23 lead with 6:27 left in the half. Parkside hit its sixth three-pointer of the first half to pull within three (40-37) at the half.
Van Tubbergen opened the second half with a bucket, followed by a Gassman layup and a Van Tubbergen three-pointer to push the GVSU lead to 10 (47-37). A
Christian Negron dunk gave the Lakers a 54-48 lead with 15:02 left, but an 8-1 run by Parkside over a span of 4:32 allowed the Rangers to take a 56-55 advantage.
Van Tubbergen hit a pair of free throws and short jumper to ignite a 9-0 run and give the Lakers a 64-56 lead with 7:54 remaining in the game, however, a 10-2 run for Parkside tied the game at 66-66 with 5:33 left in the game.
Senior guard
Jordan Harris hit a jumper and Negron pulled down an offensive rebound and put back a dunk to give the Lakers a 70-66 lead. Van Tubbergen hit four free throws and a bucket down the stretch and Harris added four points for the final margin.
Van Tubbergen led the way with a season-high 32 points, converting 10-of-14 shots, including 3-of-4 three-pointers and was 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Negron added a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Harris' 10-point, five-assist and four-rebound effort. Gassman chipped in seven points and Luke Tolliver six. GVSU shot 50 percent from the three-point line (7-for-14) and a season-best 88.5 percent from free throw line (23-for-26). The Lakers also outrebounded Parkside 36-26.
