ALLENDALE—The Grand Valley State men's basketball came back from a double-digit second-half deficit to defeat Michigan Tech, 79-74, on Thursday night inside of the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.
GVSU found itself down 11 points with 10:20 remaining in the game. The Lakers responded with a 16-5 run to tie the game with 6:14 remaining. The Huskies answered with a 5-0 spurt, but GVSU had an answer of its own, going on an 8-1 spurt of their own to take a lead with 3:37 to go.
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.
Carver-Bagley's dunk and subsequent made free throw put GVSU (14-9, 8-5 GLIAC) up by three with 70 seconds to go. Michigan Tech (7-16, 4-10) had just three possessions after that and they ended with a turnover, a blocked shot and a made jumper with three second left.
Marius Grazulis made two free throws in the final seconds to put the game on ice for GVSU. He ended the game with 17 points and nine rebounds and shot 6-for-9 from the floor. Grazulis put up the same number of points and rebounds in both of the Lakers' regular-season matchups with the Huskies. Grazulis led the way for GVSU in points, rebounds and assists with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Chinedu Kingsley Okanu stepped up at the free-throw line, making all eight of his shots from the charity stripe. Okanu finished with 12 points and two rebounds.
Daniel Kiely and
Britain Harris both got into double figures, scoring 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
The Lakers dominated down low, outscoring Michigan Tech in the paint, 42-28, and won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Huskies, 37-31. GVSU shot 51 percent from the field, including a 61.5 percent clip in the second half.
GVSU is back on the floor at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they take on Northern Michigan inside of the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena. The Lakers are celebrating Sawyers day and will wear feauxback uniforms to celebrate GVSU's almost-mascot the Sawyers.
