SAULT STE. MARIE—The Grand Valley State men's basketball team defeated Lake Superior State, 68-64, in the GLIAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night inside of the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
 
GVSU came back from a 10-point deficit with 16:49 remaining in the game after letting LSSU come out of the halftime break on a 6-0 run.
 
The Lakers (18-11) went on a 13-4 run to take the lead with 7:15 to go in the game. From that point on, both teams traded baskets until the late stages when they got into the foul game. Marius Grazulis nailed a free throw with three seconds to go to seal the game for GVSU.
 
Trevor Smith knocked down two clutch second-half triples for the Lakers. He led GVSU in scoring with 13 points, going 5-for-8 from the floor. Jalen Charity also scored 10 points for GVSU, hitting two first-half triple of his own.
 
Marius Grazulis had a game-high nine rebounds. The Laker captain also scored eight points and had two assists. Isaiah Carver-Bagley had a Laker-high four assists.
 
GVSU won the battle on the glass, outrebounding LSSU (13-14), 34-32, which was a vast improvement over last Thursday night when LSSU outrebounded GVSU by 12. GVSU's bench also outscored LSSU's bench, 35-9. 
 
The Lakers advance to the GLIAC Semifinals on Saturday. GVSU awaits the result of the winner of the Parkside-Michigan Tech matchup. If Parkside wins, the Lakers will play the Rangers on Saturday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. If Michigan Tech wins, GVSU will play the Huskies on Saturday in Big Rapids.