ALLENDALE – The Grand Valley State men's basketball team opened up their conference schedule with a 75-65 win over Davenport Friday (Dec. 8) night. The Lakers improve to 4-4 on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC, while Davenport drops to 3-6 overall, 0-1 in the GLIAC.
GVSU dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Panthers 48-33 including hauling down 18 offensive rebounds. The Lakers shot 41% from the field and 17-23 for 73.9% from the free throw line. The Laker bench outscored the Panthers bench 34-20.
Williams Dunn led all scorers with 19 points on 6-11 shooting, including going 4-6 from downtown.
Britain Harris scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting off the bench. Ten Lakers hit at least one field goal in the win.
Trevor Smith led all players with seven assists and brought down three offensive rebounds.
Jalen Charity added seven points and six rebounds in the win.
GVSU got off to a fast start by taking a 14-4 lead five minutes into the game. Dunn started the game with four quick points and dished out two assists. Davenport would cut the Laker lead to five halfway through the first half, but the Lakers answered and pushed the lead to nine off a Gunter three with just under four minutes left in the half. A Dunn three pointer before the buzzer gave the Lakers an eight-point lead heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lakers went on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 20 off a pair of free throws made by Harris. GVSU would get their largest lead of the night at 22 with just under eight minutes to go. Davenport would cut the lead back to six after a 7-0 run with under two minutes to play. The Lakers would respond with a 6-0 run of their own to push the lead back to 12 off a Harris fast break dunk and layup off a Panther turnover.
GVSU will have a week off before returning to the court on the road at McKendree on Sunday (Dec. 17) in Lebanon, Illinois. Tipoff is set for 4:00 PM. Visit gvsulakers.com for links to live video and live stats and follow @gvsubasketball on Twitter for live in-game updates.
