UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell to the visiting Grand Valley State University Lakers by a score of 66-53 Saturday night (Feb. 20) in a match-up of top-four teams in the GLIAC. The loss drops SVSU to 15-10 overall on the season with a 12-8 GLIAC record. Grand Valley State, which is tied for the top spot in the league, improves to 19-6 overall, holding a 15-5 mark in league play.
The Cardinals entered halftime down by eight, trailing the Lakers by a 32-24 score. SVSU jumped out front in the contest right away on a three-pointer by junior forward Keithan Jackson (Grand Rapids, Mich./Godwin Heights HS) nine seconds into the ballgame. Grand Valley would take the lead right back with 18:58 left in the half. The Lakers would extend their lead to as many as 11 twice in the first 20 minutes, once at the 5:52 mark and the other when the score was 27-16 with 5:28 remaining. SVSU would cut into the lead slightly, but Grand Valley would hold onto the eight point advantage heading into the locker room.
Jackson led the Cardinals offensively in the first period, scoring 10 points, including connecting on 3-of-3 from three-point range. Sophomore guard Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./TC Howe HS) added seven points in the opening frame.
Saginaw would cut the Laker lead to two points three times in the second half, the last being with 14:36 remaining in the contest after junior Dan Genther (Lainsgburg, Mich.) drained a pair of free throws. The Cardinals would not get any closer, however, as GVSU used free throws down the stretch to close-out with the 13-point victory.
Foster led SVSU with a game-high 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jackson finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while freshman guard Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) also had 10. Senior guard Avery Stephenson (Romulus, Mich.), playing in his final home regular season game in a Cardinal uniform, added nine points in 38 minutes of action.
SVSU is back in action this weekend, as it makes a swing through the Upper Peninsula to take-on Northern Michigan on Thursday (Feb. 25) in a 7:30 pm contest before playing Michigan Tech Saturday (Feb. 27) in a game that tips at 3:00 pm.