DETROIT—The Grand Valley State men's basketball team won, 71-67, in a matchup with Wayne State on Saturday inside of the Wayne State Fieldhouse.
 
The Lakers (16-10, 10-6 GLIAC) survived a second-half push from Wayne State (8-15, 5-11). Kingsley Okanu and Trevor Smith made clutch baskets down the stretch.
 
Okanu worked down low in the post and made two tough baskets in the final 2:30 of the game and Smith made a free-throw line jumper with 31 seconds remaining to give GVSU a seven-point lead. Wayne State made a triple with seven seconds to go, but Marius Grazulis drained a free throw to put it out of reach.
 
Grazulis earned his third double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He went 5-for-9 from the floor and had two assists as well.
 
Okanu tied Grazulis for the team lead with 13 points and a 5-for-9 performance from the field. He added three rebounds, a game-high four steals and the only two blocks of the game. 
 
Daniel Kiely and Smith also got into double figures with 11 points for the Lakers. Isaiah Carver-Bagley contributed four assists and Jalen Charity grabbed eight rebounds. 
 
The Lakers got out to a double-digit lead in the first half thanks to a 15-0 run and went into the halftime break up by 11. Wayne State wouldn't go away and cut the deficit to three but were unable to get closer than a 3-pointer away from a tie game in the second half.
 
The GVSU bench showed up big time, scoring 40 points. The Wayne State bench only contributed 11 points. GVSU only allowed seven Wayne State triples and held them to a 28 percent clip from distance. The Lakers also edged out the Warriors on the glass by a 43-41 margin.
 
The Lakers return home for the final pair of regular season games next weekend. Thursday night's game against Lake Superior State is set for an 8 p.m. start and the Lakers will then take on Ferris State at 3 p.m. on Saturday to close out the regular season.