WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The No. 17 Grand Valley State basketball team defeated Harding 75-69 in the season opener Friday (Oct. 30) night at the Midwest Tip-Off Classic in Wisconsin Dells. The Lakers begin the season 1-0, while Harding falls to 0-1.
Marcus Gray II led the Lakers in scoring with a career high 18 points on 5-8 shooting from the field with four three-pointers. Gray II shot a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
Austin Tory notched his first career double-double with a career high 15 points and 10 rebounds on 7-12 shooting from the field. Tory added three assists and one block in the win.
Antaune Allen scored 11 points with two three-pointers and three assists, while
Shamus Thompson added nine points and eight rebounds.
GVSU shot 46% from the field and 9-18 for 50% from behind the arc. Harding shot 46% from the field and 0-13 from three-point range. The Lakers dished out 14 assists and scored 30 points in the paint. GVSU forced the Bisons to commit 13 turnovers and scored 11 points off their turnovers. Harding outrebounded 38-34 and 13-10 in offensive rebounds.
The Lakers never trailed at any point in the game and started the game on a 15-2 run through the first six minutes that included back-to-back three-pointers by
Antaune Allen. GVSU extended the lead to 18 points at 23-5 with back-to-back triples by
Marcus Gray II and
Marshawn Cocroft with 12:00 minutes to play in the first half. Harding would go on a 10-0 run to cut the Laker lead to 23-15 with nine minutes left in the first.
GVSU would respond with a 7-1 run to increase the lead back to 14 points at 30-16. Gray II. Would hit his second three of the half to give GVSU A 37-23 lead with under four minutes in the first half.
Ezra Brown would knock down a pull-up midrange jumper to give the Lakers their largest lead of the game at 46-27 with over one minute remaining in the first. The Lakers would take a 46-29 lead into the break.
In the second half, Harding would start on a 6-0 run that was stopped by a three-pointer by Tory to put GVSU up 49-35. Over the next four minutes, the Lakers would go on an 8-2 run to take a 57-39 lead with over 12 minutes to play in the game. Harding would go on a 19-10 run over the next nine minutes to pull within singles digits on 67-58 with just over three minutes remaining. The Bisons would cut the Laker lead to six at 69-63 after a converted and one. GVSU knock down free throws the rest of the way and Austin tory blocked a shot with seconds remaining to help secure the season opening win.
GVSU will be back on the court tomorrow for day two of the Midwest Tip-Off Classic against Lincoln Memorial. Tipoff is set for 7:00 PM ET, 6:00 PM CT at JustAgame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. The game can be listened live on Thunder Country 107.3.
