UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell to Grand Valley State University today (Jan. 5), 53-39. The loss drops the Cardinals to 4-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference, while the Lakers improve to 9-3 on the season and 5-1 in GLIAC play.

The Cardinals would erase an early deficit on a slashing bucket by Rob Clark (Saginaw, Mich.) to tie the game at 7-7, with 16:04 to play in the first half.

Meijer "Player of the Game" Eli Redman (Bath, Mich.) would make a pair of free throws that pushed the SVSU lead to 16-12 with 2:28 left in the half. Redman finished the evening with a team-high 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Grand Valley would go on a 6-0 run to enter the intermission with the 18-16 advantage.

The Lakers started the second half on a 7-2 run and took a 25-18 advantage with 15:25 to go in the contest.

A Redman layup would cut the Laker advantage to four at 33-29 with 7:50 left in regulation.

At the 5:30 mark of the second half, Chris Webb hit a step-back jump shot to bring the Cardinals within three, 35-32.

Grand Valley pushed the lead to eight at the 2:36 mark of the second half before Webb converted on a bucket, drew a foul and made the free throw for a three-point play and a 44-39 deficit.

However, the Cardinals would fail to convert in the final two minutes as the Lakers went on a 9-0 run to end the contest, 53-39.

The Cardinals will continue conference play on Saturday (Jan. 7) when they battle Ferris State for a 7:00 PM start.