SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's basketball team earned a thrilling 75-72 victory over the Grand Valley State Lakers as head coach Steve Hettinga posted his 250th win as a Laker on Thursday, Feb. 3 at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. With the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game win, the Lakers overall record improves to 12-7 overall and 7-6 in conference play.
First Half:
Redshirt senior Malek Adams opened the game's scoring at 19:10 when he made a layup after a defensive rebound on the game's first possession. Grand Valley responded with an eight point scoring run to take an 8-2 lead in the game through the first five minutes of play.
Adams followed with the next four points for Lake State as the team pulled within four points (10-6) of Grand Valley by the 13:22 mark. Senior David Wren scored his first two points of the game with 13:01 left in the half after making a layup to make it a 14-8 game.
GVSU responded with six straight points, led by a three-pointer by Deleon Brown, to hold a 12-point lead (20-8) over Lake Superior with just under 10 minutes left in the half. Adams would make his third and fourth free throws of the half with 9:08 left to play. Adams' free throw play in the first half remained perfect as he made another two attempts with 6:29 left in the first.
The LSSU Lakers continued to chip away at Grand Valley's lead as Adams made two more free throws to finish the first half going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. After a steal by C.J. Robinson, Adams scored a three-pointer to pull the Lakers within five points (24-19) with 5:49 left in the first half. Freshman Hunter Soper made a jump shot with 5:29 on the clock but the GVSU Lakers answered with five points to regain an eight point lead (29-21).
LSSU was led by senior Kemon Bassett in the closing three minutes as the forward scored eight points in the stretch. Bassett made a shot from beyond the arc with 2:32 remaining in the half and would hit a three at the buzzer to close out the half. After 20 minutes, Grand Valley led by three points, 32-29.
Second Half:
GVSU's senior guard Isaac Gassman scored a three-pointer on the first possession of the second half to regain a six point lead (35-29) for the visiting team. Grand Valley's lead extended to nine points with 17:20 left in the game after back-to-back field goals from Jake Van Tubbergen.
After Gassman hit another three point shot to give GVSU a double digit lead (44-32), Robinson answered with a three-pointer on the next possession to bring the Lakers back within nine points (44-35).
Adams added another two free throws with 14:00 minutes left in the game and Wren made a jump shot after a steal as the Lakers pulled within seven points of Grand Valley (46-39). Edmondson, who entered the game as the GLIAC's top three point shooter this season, made his first three of the game at the 12:33 mark while Bassett followed with a layup to cut GVSU's lead to four points (48-44) with 11:35 left on the clock.
As the final ten minutes of regulation began, Bassett would add five consecutive points for Lake State as he made a jumper and three straight free throws. With 9:35 left in the second half, Robinson netted another three pointer for Lake State to tie the game at 52.
Grand Valley was quick to regain a four point lead but Edmondson's three point shooting came up big for the Lakers again to bring the game back within a point (56-55). With 6:47 left in the game Grand Valley led by six (63-57) but the home Lakers would once again even the score. Wren made a jump shot and then Justin Fischer recorded a steal on the next play to set up Wren for a three-pointer. Fischer scored the next two points for LSSU with 5:25 left on the clock to make it a two-point differential (66-64). Bassett made back-to-back free throws to make it an even game at 66 with 4:58 to play. Bassett added three more points to cap off a seven point run by Lake State as the home team led by three points (69-66).
With two minutes left in the game, the score sat tied at 70. After Van Tubbergen gave Grand Valley a 72-70 lead with 1:33 to play, Wren followed with a layup to once again tie the game. After Gassman missed a three point shot in the final minute of play, Fischer made a layup to give Lake State a 74-72 lead with :20 seconds left in the game.
The Lakers would secure the conference win by a final score of 75-72 in the thrilling win.
Breaking Down the Win: Bassett finished the game with a team-leading 22 points in the win as he went 7-for-14 from the field which included a pair of threes. Bassett also added seven rebounds, which was tied for the team-lead, as well as three assists, two steals, and two blocks. Adams followed with 21 points for the Lakers which included 12 of 14 free throws. Adams also added seven rebounds.
Wren rounded out the top three scorers for the Lakers as he posted 12 points in the win. Wren also totaled seven rebounds in the game.
The LSSU Lakers finished the game with a 41.4 shooting percentage, going 24-for-58 in the game. On the other end of the floor, the GVSU went 27-for-55 in the game to total a 50.0 shooting percentage. Lake Superior State outrebounded Grand Valley, 34-32, in the game.
What's Next
The Lakers will close out the weekend on Saturday, Feb. 5 with an afternoon game against the Davenport Panthers. Tipoff for the GLIAC game is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
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