UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Cardinal Men's Basketball squad hosted the Lake Superior State University Lakers in another GLIAC contest on Thursday (Jan. 9) evening at O'Neill Arena. Despite facing a 35-31 halftime deficit, Saginaw Valley came to play in the second half and outscored the Lakers 48-31 in the final 20 minutes to secure a 79-66 victory.
The win moves SVSU to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the GLIAC. Lake Superior State is now 6-8 overall and 3-3 in league action. The victory is the seventh straight for SV and keeps them GLIAC standings with that 5-1 mark.
LSSU led from the start and all the way until the home team used a pair of Innocent Nwoko free throws to give the Cards a 15-14 edge with 10:23 showing on the clock. The Lakers, however, would take their largest lead of eight points (35-27) with 1:24 to play when they went on an 8-0 run. The Cards closed the first half of action with the final four points, using buckets from Malik Ellison and Nick Thran to trim the deficit to 35-31.
Lake Superior State shot 53.8% from the floor through the first 20 minutes while Saginaw Valley hit on just 35.3% of its shots. Myles Belyeu led all scorers with 13 first half points, adding six rebounds.
The second half was a different story shooting, with SVSU hitting on 58.3% of its tries and going 6-of-10 from downtown and LSSU shooting at just a 34.6% clip. Belyeu tacked-on another 13 points in the frame and Ellison added 15 points to his credit. Saginaw Valley built a lead as much as 16 points, which came with just 2:03 remaining when Ellison made a pair of freebies to give SV a 77-61 edge. The Cardinals would hang strong from there, closing-out for the 79-66 victory.
Inside the Boxscore
- Belyeu led all scorers and rebounders with 26 points and eight boards in the game. He added two assists and a pair of steals as well.
- Ellison added 22 points with four rebounds and eight assists. The eight helpers is a career-high for Malik. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- Fred John Jr. added nine points and seven boards with an assist and a steal.
- The Cardinals posted a 38-27 edge on the glass in the game.
Postgame Interview - Randy Baruth
Up Next...
Saginaw Valley is at home again on Saturday (Jan. 11), hosting the #11 Ferris State University Bulldogs. Tip-off for that game is set for right around 3:00 p.m. and will follow the SVSU Women's contest. The Cardinals will be welcoming back alumni for the game as well and will be honoring them at halftime.
--- www.svsucardinals.com ---