UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell at home by a score of 67-65 on a last second tip-in from Walsh's Davonte Beard as the buzzer sounded in Saturday's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest.
In a back-and-forth first half that featured eight ties and 12 lead changes, the Cardinals held a five point lead at the 4:15 mark of the opener with the score 31-26 after a three-pointer from freshman guard Garrett Hall. That was the biggest margin either team held during the first 20 minutes of play, as the game was tied three times from that point on.
The eighth tie of the half came when the Cavaliers responded to a Wade Gelhaus layup with 18 seconds left with a layup of their own to carry a 35-35 score into the halftime break after a last-second three point attempt from SVSU sophomore guard Kellen Smith was no good.
Hall led the team's offensive output in the first half with 11 points and grabbed a team-high three rebounds.
Freshman C.J. Turnage added eight points for the Cards, who shot 44.8% in the opening frame compared to 42.4% for Walsh.
The Cavaliers held a 21-15 edge on the glass and both teams committed five turnovers.
Walsh grabbed a quick lead in the second half and extended its lead out to eight points with 15:30 left to play and the score 44-36.
The Cards worked their way back and tied the game on a layup from Turnage and took a two point lead after an alley-oop dunk by Turnage from Smith, making the score 48-46 with just over 11 minutes left to play.
SVSU pushed the lead out to six and held the edge all the way until the 3:17 mark when the Cavs tied things up for the 10th time with the score 61-61.
After a Walsh tip-in gave the Cavaliers a 65-63 lead with 1:49 left, sophomore guard Damon Bozeman responded with a jumper in the paint to knot the score at 65 with the clock reading 1:38.
That's where the score would stand with the ball in Walsh's possession and just over 18 seconds showing on the clock. A layup attempt from the Cavs failed, but that's when Beard leapt up and tipped-the ball into the hoop just before the final buzzer sounded, giving them the 67-65 victory.
Hall finished the game by matching a career-high he posted Thursday against Malone by scoring 23 points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" for his efforts. Hall was 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the contest.
Turnage turned-in another solid performance for the Cards, netting 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
The Cavaliers held the total edge on the glass by a 40-30 margin. SVSU out-shot Walsh overall by a 47.1% to 38.1% margin and by a 45.0% to 28.6% mark from downtown.
With the defeat, Saginaw Valley falls to an even 5-5 overall on the season and 1-5 in the GLIAC. Walsh improves to 8-2 overall and 4-2 in league play.
The Cardinals are back in action on the road at the University of Findlay Thursday (Jan. 9) in an 8:00 pm matchup.