The Basics

Score: Michigan State 87, Saginaw Valley State 77
Breslin Center - East Lansing, Mich.
MSU is No. 9 in USA Today D-I Coaches Poll | SVSU is No. 4 in NABC D-II Top 25 

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The SVSU men's basketball team traveled to play at Michigan State in the Cardinals' opener for the 2016-17 exhibition season. Despite trailing 42-28 at the break, Saginaw Valley had a solid second half in outscoring the Spartans by a 49-45 margin while drawing closer but falling by an 87-77 final.

MSU got out to an early 13-3 lead at the 16:34 point of the first but the Cardinals would trim the deficit to 13-12 after Caleb Davis drilled his second triple with 11:48 to go.

The Spartans ran the lead back to double digits with the score 31-21 with 5:29 showing and they would extend it to 34-21.

A Richie Roberts three-pointer with 33 seconds left in the opening half cut the home team's lead to 42-28, which is where it stood at halftime.

Michigan State would continue to lead by double-digits until SVSU used three straight Garrett Hall triples and a Malik Garner layup to cut the Spartan lead to seven points at 63-56 at the 6:53 marker of the second half.

SV trailed by 15 (85-70) with just 50 ticks remaining but would add three buckets throughout the remainder of the game to make the final margin 87-77 in MSU's favor.

Inside the Boxscore

• Hall notched a game-high 24 points, going 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Twenty of those points came in the second half, going 5-of-6 from three.
• C.J. Turnage added 20 points for the Cardinals. He connected on 7-of-10 shots in the second half for 16 of his 20. He added a team-best seven boards with a pair of steals and assists.
• Caleb Davis and Mike Wells each chipped-in with seven points for the Cardinals. 
• The Cardinals won the turnover battle, forcing 18 and commiting 14.
• Michigan State held a 42-27 edge overall on the glass and 44-34 advantage in points in the paint.
• Miles Bridges led MSU with 20 points and Eron Harris had a game-high nine rebounds.

Saginaw Valley rounds-out its exhibition schedule for the 2016-17 season when it hits the road for a game at Butler University on Saturday (Nov. 5) at 7:00 p.m. 

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