The Basics

Score: Saginaw Valley 68, No. 18 Ashland 66
Records: SVSU (6-2, 3-0) | AU (8-1, 3-1)
Location: Kates Gymnasium - Ashland, Ohio

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The SVSU men's basketball team traveled to Ashland to play the No. 18 nationally-ranked Eagles. In an exciting matchup until the very end between the two GLIAC preseason favorites, the Cardinals gave the Eagles their first loss of the season in the final seconds after a buzzer-beating layup off an inbounds pass by Damon Bozeman.

The first half, like most of the game, was a back-and-forth affair that was tied at 15-15 at the 9:35 marker when Garrett Hall nailed a three-pointer for the Cardinals. 

Consecutive layups from Devin Dixon gave SVSU its largest lead of the game of nine points (32-23) with 2:07 showing on the clock for the opening half.

The Eagles would cut the lead down to 32-28, which is what the scoreboard would show as the teams headed into the halftime break.

The Eagles took back the lead at the 17:53 minute mark of the second half after back-to-back shots from Wendall Davis.

In the game that featured nine ties and 17 different lead changes, the score stood at 64-64 with 53 seconds to play after Ashland hit a triple.

The Eagles' Davis then gave the home squad a 66-64 lead with eight seconds to play but that was answered quickly the other way as C.J. Turnage made good on a layup with just over a second remaining on the clock to knot the score at 66-66.

After Ashland called a timeout, their inbounds pass sailed out-of-bounds without being touched, giving the Cardinals the ball back under their own basket with a chance to claim the victory.

Saginaw Valley then called a timeout, and Kellen Smith found Bozeman wide open under the basket and he made good on the game-ending layup and two-point victory over the 18th-ranked Eagles. 

Inside the Boxscore

• Turnage led the Cardinals with 15 points and posted four assists, three steals and a season-high three blocks. 
• Caleb Davis added 12 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor while adding five boards.
• Hall contributed eight points while teammate Mitchell Baenziger added seven for the Cardinals.
• Bozeman and Smith each scored six points, with Bozeman grabbing a team-high nine boards and Smith a game-high six assists.
• SVSU shot 47.5% (29-61) from the floor, while Ashland shot 43.3% (26-60).
• Wendell Davis lead the Eagles with 28 points.

Meijer "Player of the Game"

Bozeman was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after grabbing a team-high nine rebounds to go along with his six points. He also sealed the game with the buzzer-beating layup off the inbounds pass. 

From Head Coach Randy Baruth

"Congratulations to our guys on a very nice win today! We were lucky to pull it out, as Ashland is a very good team and we were fortunate to have a couple plays bounce our way. Our guys made some really good decisions in out timeouts on switching personnel defensively and Sterling Johnson made a great call on the game's last action and the game-winning layup."

Up Next for SVSU

The Cardinals travel to face Lake Erie on Saturday (Dec. 19). The Storm (5-3, 2-1 GLIAC) are coming off a Saturday night 82-69 victory at home against the Hillsdale College Chargers. Tip-off against the GLIAC South Division opponent is set for 3:00 p.m. at Jerome T. Osborne Family Athletic & Wellness Center.