HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Grand Valley State men's basketball team made big shots when they mattered and ground out an 80-74 win on the road against the Michigan Tech Huskies Thursday (Jan. 20) night at the SCD Gymnasium. The Lakers improve to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in the GLIAC as they head to Marquette, Michigan Saturday (Jan. 22) to face Northern Michigan at 3:15 PM.
 
Three Lakers finished in double figures, led by Jake Van Tubbergen's 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Deleon Brown poured in 14 points and Christian Negron stuffed the box score with 13 points, six rebounds and a career-best six assists while blocking yet another shot. Trevon Gunter also drilled three three-pointers in the win.
 
The Lakers hot three-point shooting continued tonight, hitting 10-16 from beyond the arc and an even 5-8 in each half. A low-scoring start saw a 10-9 deficit before the Lakers went on an 8-0 to jump in front. A pair of Huskie three's answered and the back and forth continued, seeing a 34-34 tie with :10 left in the half, but Brown hit a runner from just inside the arc to give the Lakers a narrow lead at the break.
 
The back-and-forth continued for much of the second half. The Lakers hit back-to-back threes from Isaac Gassman and Gunter to extend the lead to 11 around the 9:00-mark and, while the Huskies would cut into the deficit several times, the Lakers kept finding answers to hold off Michigan Tech. Three straight possessions at the end of regulation, the Lakers led by three and needed a player to hit the front end of a 1-and-1 to extend the lead to two scores and all three times the Lakers delivered, salting the game away down the stretch.
 
The Lakers now head to Marquette for a matinee showdown with the Wildcats. Tip-off is set for 3:15 PM with coverage on 1340 AM The Ticket (www.theticketmi.com) scheduled for 3 PM. Follow @GVSUBasketball on social media for all coverage links and in-game updates.