UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team squared-off with Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division rival Grand Valley State University on Thursday evening (Jan. 30). The Cardinals dropped the contest by a score of 88-76 in the matchup.
The Lakers grabbed a quick lead and ran out to a double-digit edge with the score 15-5 at the 15:09 mark. They would extend the lead out to 16 points twice, the latter coming with the score 25-9 and 10:46 left to play in the half.
A 10-2 run capped-off by a Garrett Hall three-pointer cut the lead to just eight points at the 8:28 marker with the score 27-19 in GV's favor.
Grand Valley led by 12 points (42-30) with 2:10 remaining in the opening half, but SVSU answered with a 7-0 run to end the frame, using a triple from sophomore guard Damon Bozeman, a jumper from Hall and a put-back layup from freshman forward Wade Gelhaus. That run ended play for the first half with the scoreboard showing 42-37 in favor of the Lakers.
The Lakers out-shot the Cardinals by a mark of 62.1% (18-29) to 43.3% (13-30) in the opening frame and held a 20-10 edge on the glass.
Freshman forward C.J. Turnage had a team-high 11 points in the first half and Bozeman added nine.
GVSU increased its lead to double-digits and held a 16 point lead with the score 58-42 and 14:13 left in the game.
A layup from Gelhaus with 6:42 remaining cut the Laker lead to nine points (68-59) and the Cardinals got as close as six points when Bozeman banked-in a three-pointer to make the score 82-76 with only 56 ticks left on the clock.
With the Cards forced to foul and time running out on them, Grand Valley was able to hit just enough free throws and closed-out for the 12 point victory, 88-76.
GVSU finished with a 59.3% to 43.6% edge in overall shooting and posted a 38-25 advantage in rebounding.
Wade Gelhaus scored a career and game-high 22 points while being named the Meijer "Player of the Game." He added four rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
Bozeman added 17 points and a team-high five rebounds while Hall (15) and Turnage (13) also reached double-figures in scoring.
With the loss, SVSU falls to 7-10 overall in 2013-14 and 3-10 in the GLIAC while the Lakers improve to 13-4 overall and 9-4 in league play.
SVSU returns to the floor on the road against Ferris State University on Saturday (Feb. 1). Tip-off is set for 3:00 pm in Big Rapids.