ASHLAND, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell to Ashland University tonight (Jan. 19), 72-52. The loss drops the Cardinals to 8-8 on the season and 4-5 in the conference, while the Eagles improve to 10-6 and 5-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.

Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) connected on a long jumper from the perimeter 90 seconds into the contest to give SVSU a 7-2 edge. The Eagles would rally with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to lead 12-7 at the 13:09 mark of the first half.

Meijer "Player of the Game" George Goodman (Saginaw, Mich./Buena Vista HS) came off the bench to connect on a three-point jump shot to bring the Cardinals within one, 21-20, with 4:46 to go until halftime. Goodman finished the contest with a career-high 12 points, including four three-point buckets.

Ashland would close out the half on a 6-2 run to take a 27-22 lead in the locker room.

Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) opened up the second half with another SVSU three-pointer to cut the Eagle lead to 30-25 before Ashland went on a 12-2 run to open up a 42-27 advantage with 16:32 to go in the contest.

Saginaw Valley cut the Eagle lead to 52-39 with just over 11 minutes to play as Eli Redman (Bath, Mich.) scored a bucket in the paint. Redman finished the night with 10 points.

Ashland would stay hot offensively, going on an 18-6 run over the next eight minutes to come away with the 72-52 victory.

The Eagles fired 52 percent from the floor, while the Cardinals managed just 27 percent. SVSU turned the ball over just six times on the evening, while forcing 16 Ashland errors.

The Cardinals will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Lake Erie to battle the Storm for a 3:00 PM start.