SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Grand Valley State men's basketball team dominated Minnesota State 76-55 Friday (Nov. 21) evening in a neutral site game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Lakers improve to 3-0 on the season, while Minnesota State falls to 4-2. 
 
Trevor Smith Jr. led GVSU with a season high 18 points with four rebounds and two steals on 8-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 2-2 from three-point range. Ethan Alderink scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds on 6-7 shooting and 2-2 from behind the arc. Jalen Charity notched 13 points and four rebounds, while Mason Docks dished out a game high six assists and hauled down four rebounds. 
 
GVSU shot 47% from the field and 35% from three, while the Laker defense forced Minnesota State to commit 13 turnover while shooting 25% from the field and 14% from three-point range. The Lakers out rebounded the Mavericks 44-41 and dished out 12 assists to Minnesota State's six. GVSU dominated the paint, outscoring Minnesota State 50-20and 43-13 in bench points. 
 
The Lakers got off to a fast start, jumping out to an 8-0 lead off the hot shooting hand of Ethan Alderink who scored the first eight points of the game with two three-pointers. Trevor Smith Jr. pushed the lead to double digits for the first time of the game at 17-7 off a fastbreak layup just six minutes in. After Minnesota State brought the lead down to nine, GVSU would go on a 14-4 run over eight minutes to take their largest lead of the first half at 19 points off a tough fastbreak layup by Javion Otten. The Lakers would push the lead to 22 after a made three-pointer by Charles Turner with just under three minutes to go in the first half. The Lakers would head to the locker room with an 18-point lead. 
 
In the second half, GVSU picked up right where they left off and increased the lead back to 22 off a fastbreak dunk by Jalen Charity just under five minutes in. After two minutes of both teams exchanging buckets, Smith Jr. forced another Minnesota State turnover and got the fastbreak layup to go to give the Lakers a 25-point lead with 11:30 minutes to play in the game. GVSU would put the exclamation point on the game with a fastbreak dunk by Antaune Allen followed by a reverse alley-oop by Austin Tory to increase the lead to 30 points at 74-44 with under five minutes remaining. GVSU would cruise to the win by a final score of 76-55 to improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season. 
 
GVSU will close their trip to South Dakota tomorrow when they face the host team Sioux Falls. Tipoff is set for 8:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM CT at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The game will be streamed live on the NSIC Network. Visit gvsulakers.com for links to live stats and live video and follow @gvsubasketball on X for live in-game updates.