UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team, ranked 24th in the most recent NABC Top-25 Coaches Poll and 4th in the first NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings, hosted the Grand Valley State University Lakers on Thursday (Feb. 19) evening in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division matchup. In a closely-contested matchup, the Lakers took a late lead and posted a narrow 71-70 win over the Cardinals.
The visitors grabbed an early lead and held it until the 13:42 mark when SVSU held its first lead of the game and extended it to three points at 14-11 after a triple from junior Mitchell Baenziger and a three-point play from junior Damon Bozeman.
After the game was tied for the fourth time of six in the first half, SV build its biggest lead of the half at four points two different times, the latter coming with 11:10 to go when Baenziger connected on a pair of free throws to make the score 21-17.
A triple from sophomore Garrett Hall at the 5:36 marker knotted the score at 33-33, but GVSU would re-gain the lead and carry a 38-35 advantage heading into the half following a made layup.
SV hit on 43.5% (10-23) of its shots in the first half while GVSU shot 45.2% (14-31). The Lakers held the edge on the glass (23-10) and in the points in the paint category (20-14).
Hall had nine first half points for SVSU while Bozeman added six points. Junior Kellen Smith added five points, three assists and two boards in the opening frame.
A triple from Bozeman opened the second half's scoring and tied the game for the seventh and final time at 38-38.
SVSU would maintain the lead and open up its largest of the game, an eight-point advantage with 9:44 to play when a layup from sophomore Caleb Davis made the score 57-49.
The Cardinals held a seven-point lead (64-57) with 5:07 to play after a pair of freebies from redshirt freshman Devin Dixon, but consecutive three-point plays from GVSU's Aaron Hayes cut the lead to just one point at 64-63 with 4:14 showing on the clock.
At the 3:10 marker, a Davis triple gave SVSU a four-point edge at 69-65.
GV ended a nearly two-minute scoreless drought in the game with a layup to cut the lead to 69-67 with just 1:30 showing on the clock.
With time on the Cardinals' side, the Lakers fouled Smith and put him on the foul line with 40 seconds left.
Smith hit the first of two free throws to push the lead back out to three points at 70-67, but a defensive board by GV and a made layup cut the lead to just one point at 70-69 with 34 ticks left on the clock.
An SVSU turnover gave the ball back to the Lakers and a second-chance opportunity led to a made jumper from GVSU's Ryan Sabin, giving the visitors their first lead (71-70) since the opening minute of the second half.
After a missed Cardinal layup, SV fouled to put Hayes on the line. He missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, giving the Cardinals eight seconds to get off a final shot.
Saginaw Valley was unable to get off the final attempt before the buzzer sounded and fell by the 71-70 final.
Turnage earned Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after netting 12 points and a game-high eight boards.
Bozeman had a team-high 16 points and three rebounds while Hall added 14 points and two boards. Smith had six points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Saginaw Valley (20-6, 16-4 GLIAC) falls into second place in the GLIAC after Lake Superior State claimed an earlier 71-55 win over Northern Michigan. The Lakers keep their tournament hopes alive still, even with a 12-14 overall record and 8-12 mark in league play.
The Cardinals travel to Ferris State University (18-8, 14-6 GLIAC) on Saturday (Feb. 21) for a key GLIAC North matchup with the Bulldogs. Ferris sits in fourth place in the overall league standings and defeated the Cards by a score of 62-57 back on January 31st in O'Neill Arena. Tip-off for Saturday's contest will be roughly 3:00 pm at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.
