COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team opened Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 59-50 win over Ohio Dominican University tonight (Nov. 29).
Saginaw Valley (3-1, 1-0 GLIAC) senior Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich. / Menominee HS) kept the Cardinals in the game early, scoring six early points on back-to-back threes after Ohio Dominican (3-2, 0-1 GLIAC) opened the game on a 8-6 run.
Mejier 'Player of the Game' Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill) notched his 1,000 career point on the second of two free throws to end a 7-0 run by the Panthers with 8:37 left in the first half.
From there, the Cardinals would close out the half on a 17-5 run as they went into the locker room with a 29-24 advantage.
Webb led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, while Matt Burgess (Capac, Mich. / Capac HS) added eight. Saginaw Valley shot 10-of-32 (31 percent) from the floor and 3-of-10 from behind the arc for the half.
A layup by senior Rob Clark (Saginaw, Mich.) extended the SVSU lead to 33-24 with 18:09 to play in the game. Webb would give the Cardinals their biggest lead of the game at 49-37 on a layup with just over six minutes to play.
The Panthers made a late run to get within four at 54-50, but a pair of Webb free throws pushed the SVSU lead to six with :49 seconds left in the game as the Cardinals went on to the 59-50 victory.
Saginaw Valley ended the game 20-of-57 from the floor (35 percent) and 5-of-17 (29 percent) from behind the arc. The Panthers would outrebound the Cardinals 50-43, including 17-8 on the offensive glass.
Webb finished with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Burgess added 10 points and seven boards, while Beland chipped in with nine points.
Clark pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his four points. Redshirt freshman Kellen Smith (Covington, Kentucky / Scott HS) dished out a game-high nine assists, while the entire Panther team combined for just eight.
The Cardinals will continue their road trip with a stop at Tiffin University on Saturday (Dec. 1) for a 1:00 PM tip.