UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team defeated Lake Superior State University in their 2011-12 GLIAC opener in overtime tonight (Dec. 1), 82-80. The win lifts the Cardinals to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Lakers fall to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
The Cardinals were led by Meijer "Player of the Game" Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) who recorded a team-high 23 points, including the game-winning three-pointer from the left corner with two seconds remaining in overtime to clinch the win for Saginaw Valley.
Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./T.C. Howe HS) tallied 20 points and nine rebounds in 43 minutes of action, while Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) finished the night with 19 points, including 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Jay Thames (Port Huron, Mich./Northern HS) added 12 points in the Cardinal victory.
Saginaw Valley would take their largest lead of the night at 12-5 when Fugate tripled from behind the arc with 11:36 to go in the first half. The Cardinals would lead the rest of the half until the Lakers hit a jumper to take a narrow 28-27 advantage into the intermission.
SVSU would find themselves down by four early in the second half on two separate occasions, before taking a 47-42 lead with 11:04 left. The Cardinals never relinquished the lead the rest of the second half. Lake Superior's Kyle Hunt hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds to go in regulation to knot the game at 67. Saginaw Valley had a chance for the win as time expired, but could not convert.
Foster started the overtime period with a transition basket to give the Cardinals the initial momentum at 69-67. The SVSU lead was extended to 79-75 with 1:13 remaining, but Lake Superior drove to the basket on the following possession, made a layup and drew the foul, converting a three-point play to cut the SVSU lead to just one at 79-78.
After an offensive foul on Saginaw Valley, Lake Superior took the 80-79 advantage as they knocked down two free throws. With their backs against the wall, the Cardinal offense got the ball to Chris Webb who ultimately knocked down a rainmaker from three-point range in front of a frenzied James E. O'Neill crowd. A last-second attempt by the Lakers came up short, and the Cardinals prevailed in overtime, 82-80.
Saginaw Valley shot 45.8 percent from the floor, including 4-of-4 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line in the overtime period. The Cardinals would win the turnover battle forcing 17 Laker turnovers compared to just 13 of their own. SVSU continued their aggressive gameplan as they went 20-of-29 from the free-throw line, while also dishing out 13 assists.
The Cardinals continue their homestand on Saturday (Dec. 3) when they play host to the Marygrove College for a 7:00 PM tip inside O'Neill Arena.