NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Grand Valley State men's basketball team claimed a 59-45 win against Ashland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday (Mar. 14) afternoon on the campus of Walsh University. The Lakers improve to 26-6 on the season and will face Michigan Tech in the second round tomorrow, March 15^th at 5:00 PM. 
 
Jalen Charity led GVSU with 11 points on 3-5 shooting from the field while also grabbing eight rebounds. Shamus Thompson notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds with five offensive rebounds. Thompson also blocked two shots. Mason Docks scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds shooting 4-9 from the field. Ethan Alderink added nine points with two three-pointers and six rebounds.
 
GVSU shot 32% from the field, while Ashland shot 32% from the field, 8% from three-point range, and 45% from the free throw line. The Lakers outrebounded the Eagles 47-36 and 16-8 in offensive rebounds. GVSU scored eight second chance points and 21 fast break points. GVSU outscored Ashland 26-24 in the paint.
 
The Lakers gave up just 13 first half points as Ashland shot 27% from the field and 7% from three in the opening 20 minutes. Alderink knocked down two triples in the first three minutes of the game to give GVSU an early 8-2 lead. The Lakers would go on a 13-0 run over eight minutes as GVSU would build a 24-6 lead with under four minutes remaining in the first half. Jalen Charity would get a steal and layup in transition to give GVSU their largest lead of the half at 29-10 with 11 seconds left. Ashland would knock down a three before the buzzer to send the Lakers into the break with a 16-poitn lead.
 
In the season half, Ashland cut the Laker lead to 12 just four minutes in. Charity would it a three from the corner followed by an Alderink tip-in layup to stop the Eagle run and put GVSU up 17 with 15 minutes remaining. David Wilkerson would get the lead back up to 19 points on a three from the left corner with 12 minutes to play. Ashland would make a run and cut the GVSU lead to eight with under four minutes to play. Trevor Smith Jr. and Shamus Thompson would hit a pair of layups to keep the lead at double digits with under two minutes as GVSU would knock down free throws down the stretch to secure the win. 
 
The Lakers will face Michigan Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow, March 15^th at 5:00 PM in North Canton, Ohio on the campus of Walsh University. The game will be streamed for free on HUDL and the NCAA website. Follow @gvsubasketball on Twitter for live in-game updates.