UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team looked to rebound after its 13-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday. The Cardinals bounced-back in a huge way, scoring 56 points in the second half and notching a 101-68 victory over the Grace Bible College Tigers in a Monday (Jan. 26) night non-conference tilt.
It was the first time Saginaw Valley surpassed the 100-point plateau since a 102-64 win over Ohio Dominican on January 28, 2012.
The home squad opened the game with a 12-2 run, holding the 10-point advantage at the 16:29 mark after redshirt freshman Devin Dixon made the second of two free throw attempts.
SVSU opened-up its largest lead of the first half of 17 points after junior Mitchell Baenziger made the score 36-19 with back-to-back triples.
The Tigers cut into the lead a bit, but a three-pointer from sophomore Jon Marosi with just 11 seconds left off a cross-court pass from junior Kellen Smith put the lead at 14 points (45-31) heading into the halftime break.
The Cards posted a 28-18 advantage in the paint and notched 16 points off of 14 first half Tiger turnovers. SVSU was out and running as well, notching 15 fast-break points while allowing just three for the visitors. SV shot 57.6% (19-33) in the first half, going 5-of-11 (45.5%) from downtown as well. Grace posted a 15-11 edge on the glass, however, and netted 10 second chance points thanks to seven offensive rebounds.
Sophomores C.J. Turnage and Garrett Hall both reached double-figures in scoring for the opening 20 minutes, with Turnage adding three boards and three assists.
SVSU's lead reached 20 points after a Turnage dunk made the score 53-33 with 18:20 showing on the game clock.
Senior Lindsey Johnson had a stretch where he scored nine-straight points for the Cardinals, capping the run with a pair of foul shots to make the score 96-68 with 2:31 left to play.
The home team would score the next five points as well, as senior Kalen Foreman had a layup with 28 ticks left on the clock to put the Cardinals over the century mark at 101-68. Time would expire with that being the final score.
Foreman finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" for his performance.
Turnage and Hall each finished with 15 points in just 10 and 12 minutes of action, respectively. Johnson had 13 points, marking a season-high. He added four rebounds and three assists in the contest. Dixon reached double-digits as well, netting 10 points and three boards.
Saginaw Valley (15-3, 11-1 GLIAC) returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 29) when the Cardinals travel to Grand Valley State University (9-9, 5-7 GLIAC) in a GLIAC North Division matchup in Allendale. Tip-off is set for approximately 8:00 pm at GVSU's Fieldhouse Arena.
