UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell to the visiting Lake Superior University Lakers by a score of 85-78 on Thursday (12/2) in both teams' Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opener.  The loss drops the Cardinals to 3-2 overall on the season and 0-1 in GLIAC play while the Lakers improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.

SVSU carried a 38-29 lead heading into the locker room.  The first half went mostly the Cardinals' way, as the Cardinals took their first lead of the game at the 17:22 mark on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS).  SVSU would lead the rest of the opening frame, with its largest lead coming with 7:15 remaining in the half, with the score 31-15 in the Cardinals' favor following a triple by sophomore guard Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS).

Sophomore guard Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) led the offensive charge off the bench in the first half, scoring 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-for-2 on his three point attempts.  Fugate had nine points, four assists and three rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.  Freshman forward Patrick O'Brien (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) led all rebounders in the first half, pulling down five boards while adding four points.

The Lakers would slowly make their charge back in the second half.  Back to back three pointers by LSSU's Micah Hudson would quickly cut SVSU's lead from seven to a single point at the 2:17 mark and a Justin Williams free throw would knot the score at 65 with 1:33 remaining.  LSSU had a 70-68 lead with 22 seconds left, but a pair of free throws by Fugate with 15 seconds on the clock tied the game at 70, where it would remain through regulation.  Lake Superior would go on to outscore the SVSU by a 15-8 count in overtime to close-out with the seven point victory, 85-78.

Webb would earn Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after finishing the game with 18 points, four assists and three steals.  Senior Dan Genther (Laingsburg, Mich.) notched 10 second half points to finish with 13 overall.  Fugate finished with 11 points while playing in 44 minutes.  Beland also finished with 11 points and O'Brien had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds in 32 minutes of action off the bench.

The Cardinals will be in action again on Thursday, December 9th, as they host the Wayne State Warriors.  Tip-off is set for 6:00 pm in the GLIAC tilt.