ALLENDALE--The Grand Valley State men's basketball team takes on Northern Michigan at 3 p.m. on Saturday inside of the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. 

The matchup can be seen live on local TV via WXSP-TV or online via FloSports with a paid subscription. Tom Cleary will be on the call for television viewers. The game will be aired on radio on The Thunder (107.3 FM) with Bryan Fongers on the call.

The Lakers will celebrate Sawyers Day on Saturday. Sawyers Day is an homage to a nickname almost adopted by GVSU teams in 1969. The celebration includes fake throwback jerseys with Sawyers branding.

GVSU used a second-half comeback to beat Michigan Tech on Thursday night, 79-74. The final minutes went back-and-forth until Isaiah Carver-Bagley made a highlight reel dunk through contact to give the Lakers a lead with 1:10 remaining, dunking over a Michigan Tech defender and igniting the GVSU bench and crowd alike.

Marius Grazulis ended the game with 17 points and nine rebounds and shot 6-for-9 from the floor. Grazulis led the way for GVSU in points, rebounds and assists with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

GVSU took down Northern Michigan in the teams' first meeting of the season on Jan. 19. The Lakers won in Marquette, 82-77.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Northern Michigan is battling for the top spot in the GLIAC, sitting just a half game out of first place. The Wildcats are winners of three straight, taking down Saginaw Valley, Wayne State and Davenport in their three most recent games. Northern Michigan is averaging 75 points in its last three victories.

Max Bjorklund was named the Preseason Player of the Year in the conference, but was limited to just 13 points in the first meeting between the Wildcats and Lakers this season. Bjorklund is still the GLIAC's second-leading scorer with 20.1 points per game. Dylan Kuehl is the GLIAC's leader in field goal percentage, shooting at a 60.2 percent clip from the field.

SAWYERS DAY HISTORY
GVSU started celebrating Sawyers Day in 2019. The legend of the Sawyers dates back to 1969 when students pushed to get the GVSU mascot and nickname changed to the Sawyers. By that year, Grand Valley's eight athletic teams had uniforms printed with "Lakers" and support for the name change died down. The Laker men are 2-2 on Sawyers Day since its inception. Fans can purchase a special game package to celebrate the Sawyers.

CLEANING THE GLASS
Rebounding is an emphasis for the Lakers and it shows up on the stats sheet. GVSU is No. 36 in the NCAA in rebounding margin, averaging five more rebounds per game than its opponents. The mark also ranks third in the GLIAC. The Lakers are second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game with 11 offensive boards per game. That is good enough to rank 75th in the country.