UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team hosted the Lake Erie Storm on Saturday afternoon (1/22) in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match-up. The Cardinals came-away with a 12 point victory, making it four wins in a row after a 65-53 victory.
The start of the first half stayed close, as SVSU built an early 7-4 lead at the 16:29 mark after a layup by senior Adam Roberts (Adrian, Mich.), who scored five of the Cardinals' first seven points. SVSU would extend the lead to seven after a three-pointer by junior Sean Romsek (Fowlerville, Mich.) with 9:34 remaining in the half, making the score 18-11. The Cardinals led 30-20 at the 3:13 mark following a dunk by sophomore Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) and another Romsek jumper. The Storm would cut the Cardinal lead to six points after an Ethan Bradshaw layup with 50 seconds left, and that's where the score would stand heading into halftime, with SVSU leading 30-24.
Romsek led the offensive attack in the first half, scoring eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, including a pair of triples. Roberts and sophomore Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) each added five points and two rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Senior Dan Genther (Laingsburg, Mich.) did good work on the glass, grabbing five rebounds for the Cardinals in the first half.
A paif of free throws by junior Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./TC Howe HS) at the 15:10 mark gave the Cards a 35-30 lead. A thunderous dunk by Roberts at the 8:48 mark gave SVSU a 47-37 lead and a jumper by Foster followed, making the Cardinal lead 12. SVSU would maintain the lead despite the Storm drawing within two points at 53-51 with 2:32 remaining and used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to close-out with the 12-point victory, 65-53.
Foster was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after finishing with 20 points while adding three assists and two rebounds. Fugate added 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Romsek added 10 points for the Cardinals, who shot 43.2% from the floor while limiting Lake Erie to just 34.6%.
SVSU forced 16 Lake Erie turnovers and scored 22 points off of those.
SVSU moves to 8-8 overall on the season and 4-6 in the GLIAC while Lake Erie falls to 5-11 overall and 1-8 in league play. The Cardinals are back in action on Thursday (1/27) at Tiffin University before paying league newcomer Ohio Dominican a visit on Saturday (1/29). Thursday's contest is set to tip at 6:00 pm while Saturday's game will start at 1:00 pm.
