UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team defeated the visiting Grand Valley State University Lakers on Thursday (2/3) by a score of 61-59 in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest.
The Cardinals held a 12-9 lead at the 13:49 mark after a layup by junior Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./TC Howe HS). SVSU would extend its lead to 11 points, leading 25-14 with 5:17 remaining in the half after consecutive layups and a free throw from sophomore Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS). The Lakers would cut the Cardinal lead to three points after a triple by James Thomas at the 1:30 mark, making the score 32-29. Sophomore Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) would answer with one of his three triples to extend the lead to 35-29, but a layup by GVSU's Justin Ringler with four seconds left cut the lead to four, which is where it would stand heading into the locker room, with SVSU leading by a score of 35-31.
Webb led all scorers in the first half, pouring-in 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers. Fugate had seven points and four rebounds while Foster added six points and four rebounds.
The Cardinals shot 46.4% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while holding the Lakers to 34.5%. SVSU also posted an 18-9 advantage in bench scoring in the first half.
SVSU would open the second half with six-straight points, as Foster, sophomore Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) and Webb made consecutive buckets to push the lead to 41-31 at the 17:49 mark. The Lakers would cut the lead to four after a Ringler layup, but SVSU used four points from Fugate, a layup from Foster and a triple from junior Sean Romsek (Fowlerville, Mich.) to bring the lead to 13, with the score 52-39 with 8:07 remaining. Grand Valley would creep back to within five points at the 2:09 mark after a pair of free throws by Tony Peters, making the score 57-52 in SVSU's favor. A pair of freebies from Fugate with 15 seconds left gave the Cards a six point lead at 61-55. A pair of Laker layups within the last two seconds cut the lead to a pair, but the clock would expire with SVSU hanging on to its two point advantage, 61-59.
Fugate was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after posting a team-high 17 points and grabbing six rebounds. Webb finished with 15 points and three rebounds. Foster posted his first double-double of the season, netting 13 points and 12 rebounds while adding five assists.
James Thomas led the Lakers with a game-high 25 points while Justin Ringler added 14 for GVSU.
The victory moves SVSU to 10-9 overall on the season and 6-7 in GLIAC play. The Lakers fall to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in league play. SVSU is back in action on Saturday, February 5th, as it travels to Ferris State University for a 1:00 pm GLIAC match-up.
