The Basics

Score: #5 Saginaw Valley 92, #1 Wisconsin-Parkside 77
Records: No. 25 SVSU (24-7) | No. 14 UWP (25-6)
DeSimone Gymnasium - Somers, Wis. 

SOMERS, Wis. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team continues to re-write the history books, as the program will advance to its first-ever NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship game on Tuesday after a convincing 92-77 win over the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers on Sunday (Mar. 13) night in Wisconsin.

The victory sets up an all-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) final, as the Ferris State University Bulldogs await the Cardinals for the contest that will decide which team will advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, set for March 23-26 in Frisco, Texas.

The Cardinals scored 46 points in both halves on Sunday against the Rangers, holding the regional host to 35 and 42 points, respectively, in the frames. 

SVSU ran out to a 7-3 lead at the 16:40 marker after a Damon Bozeman made layup but the Rangers came back and would lead at the 13:40 mark with the score 14-13.

The Cards re-gained the lead and pushed it out to 27-16 with 10:06 to play in the first half when C.J. Turnage hit a jumper for the visitors. Another Turnage bucket made the count 46-33 in SVSU's favor with 38 seconds left in the opening half and SV led by a 46-35 margin at the break after UWP hit a layup with six seconds remaining.

A Kellen Smith layup gave the Cards their largest spread of 18 points (57-39) with 16:37 to go in the game  They would reach that lead with the count 61-43 as well after a Vincent Adams layup with 14:30 showing on the game clock.

The Rangers never got within 10 points from there, as the Cardinals secured the victory and moved on to Tuesday's title game after securing the 15-point win, 92-77.

Inside the Boxscore

• Wade Gelhaus had a tremendous game off the bench, going for a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds. He was 4-of-5 from the free throw line as well.
• Turnage turned-in a team-high 19 points and a double-double after adding 10 boards. He added four assists to the cause as well.
• Garrett Hall chpped-in with 15 points, four boards, two assists and a block. He was 5-of-6 shooting on the night.
• Devin Dixon had a solid game down low for SVSU as well, hitting on all five shots he attempted while scoring 13 points and grabbing six boards. 
• The Cardinals scored 54 of their points in the paint and held the Rangers to 44 points down low. 
• SVSU was 52.3% from the floor shooting while UWP was 44.3%.
• The Cardinal bench outscored the Ranger bench, 44-11.
• SVSU's 24 victories are just one shy of the 25 the team record, set in the 1984-85 season. That was also the last year the Cardinals won a GLIAC Championship before this season.

Meijer "Player of the Game" 

Gelhaus earned Meijer Player of the Game honors after his breakout performance of 18 points and six boards in 21 minutes off the bench.

Up Next

The Cardinals (24-7) and Bulldogs (24-9) will meet for the third time of the 2015-16 season. Saginaw Valley claimed both of the prior meetings between the schools, winning 74-72 on January 30 in Big Rapids before claiming an 88-79 win over Ferris on February 20 at SVSU's O'Neill Arena. Ferris State claimed the 2016 GLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament crown this year as well. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EDT at Wisconsin-Parkside.

Click here for the complete NCAA Division II National Bracket

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