UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell 81-68 to Grand Valley State in the GLIAC home opener inside O'Neill Arena on Thursday night. The Cardinals (3-3, 0-1 GLIAC) forced the Lakers (5-2, 1-0 GLIAC) into 19 turnovers while only committing nine in the losing effort.
Meijer Player of the Game Freddie McIntosh led SVSU with 21 points on 5-for-12 from the three-point line along with two steals. Four SVSU starters tallied double-digit points with Toodles Seal scoring 15, Triston Nichols had 12, and Elijah Mattingly recorded 11. Seal led the Cardinals with eight rebounds along with Richmond Mawutor. Mattingly had a game-high three blocks while Nichols finished with three assists.
Mattingly got the scoring started with a three-point buck from McIntosh that sparked a 5-0 run in the opening two minutes of play. Nichols made a three at the 14:44 mark to give SVSU its largest lead of the game at 12-6. McIntosh and Maurice Anderson made shots from beyond the arc to maintain that deficit. Bryson Huckeby made a layup to hold a 20-14 lead with 10:02 remaining in the opening period. GVSU used a 6-0 run with 3:21 left in the half to tie the game at 26 and a 5-0 run in the closing seconds gave the Lakers a two-point lead as the teams entered the locker room at the half.
McIntosh led Saginaw Valley State at the half with nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Nichols had six points at the half and Mattingly scored five. Huckeby recorded four points off the bench.
Seal made the opening shot of the second half to tie the game, but GVSU used a 5-0 run to recapture the advantage, 38-33 with just over one minute elapsed on the clock. Seal made a turnaround jumper to ignite a 5-0 run to tie the score at 38 with 18:14 left in regulation. The Lakers pulled away with a 6-0 run to hold a 44-38 advantage with 16:40 on the clock. The margin remained at two scores until a 5-0 run by the visitors widened the gap to seven points with 13:26. A dunk by GVSU at 9:07 gave the game its first double-digit lead of 64-54 and the Cardinals couldn't catch up before time expired.
Seal registered 13 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes of play. McIntosh tallied 12 of his 21 points in the second half while shooting 4-for-8 from the floor.
UP NEXT: SVSU men's hoops will remain home for another GLIAC matchup on Saturday, December 7 when the Davenport Panthers visit O'Neill Arena for a 3:00 p.m. (ET) tip-off.
