CANTON, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team used a big second half to defeat Walsh University in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference road contest today (Dec. 17), 63-59.

The Cardinals took their lone lead of the first half with 17:26 to play when Jay Thames (Port Huron, Mich.) followed up a Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) three-point basket with a jumper to give SVSU a 5-4 advantage.  

Saginaw Valley entered the locker room trailing Walsh by a score of 37-26.  As a team, SVSU shot 8-of-24 (33 percent) from the floor and 4-of-10 (40 percent) from behind the arc for the half.

The Cardinals came out of the locker room on a 10-2 run to pull to within three points at 39-36 with just over 15 minutes to play in the game.  SVSU continued to chip away at the Cavalier lead and finally tied the game at 56-56 on a Thames layup with 4:36 to play in the game.

SVSU would take a 58-57 lead, their first lead since early in the contest, on a jumper by Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) with 2:43 left in the contest.

A Clark layup and free throw with under :16 seconds left in the contest sealed the 63-59 road victory for Saginaw Valley.  SVSU was led by Meijer "Player of the Game" Chris Webb, who scored a team-high 19 points, while Clark added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. 

The Cardinals finished the game 23-of-49 (47 percent) from the floor and 5-of-14 (36 percent) from behind the three-point line.  SVSU also outrebounded the Cavaliers 33-31, including a 27-23 advantage on the defensive end.

With the win Saginaw Valley improves to 5-2 overall on the season and 3-2 in the GLIAC, while Walsh falls to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in conference.  The Cardinals will return to the hardwood on December 30th when they host Delta College at 3:00 PM.