SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State men's basketball came up short in a second half comeback bid during Thursday evening's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest against Saginaw Valley State. The Lakers dropped to 15-7 overall and 10-6 in GLIAC play following the 92-87 loss at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
Despite falling behind 49-42 at the halftime break the Lakers clawed their way back from a 15-point SVSU lead with 17:01 left in the second half. Sparked by three-straight made layups with fouls called and a 16-to-2 run, the Lakers brought the game within one point with 14:31 remaining in the second half.
The teams exchange basket-for-basket through much of the second half with the Cardinals (18-4, 14-2 GLIAC) never leading by more than seven points, but the Lakers unable to ever capture the lead.
With under a minute left in regulation and the Lakers trailing 85-82, senior forward Devin Daly stole the ball from a Cardinals player but the Lakers were unable to convert on a fast-break layup attempt at the other end.
The Lakers had to resort to fouling and SVSU closed out the contest with consistent free throw shooting during the waning moments of the game.
Damon Bozeman, who scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the first half, tied the Lakers' Akaemji Williams with a game-high 29 points for the Cardinals. Bozeman finished with six rebounds and Williams dished out eight assists in a mesmerizing guard duel.
Following a record-breaking 49-point performance at Northwood on Monday, Daly scored 20 points and eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring plateau in Thursday's game. Daly's career totals now sit at 1,003 points and 627 rebounds.
Jordan Dasuqi scored 13 points as the third Laker starter to reach double digits. Dasuqi mad 4-of-7 shots from the field and scored on 2-of-3 points from behind the three point line.
Conversely, SVSU had two starters, C.J. Turnage (14 points) and Caleb Davis (13 points), and a reserve player Garrett Hall (11 points), reach double digits in scoring as the team shot 59.3 percent from the field and went 9-for-18 from behind the arc.
The Lakers seek to end their two-game losing skid against Hillsdale at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The game against the Chargers will be part of the LSSU Basketball Alumni weekend and the Lakers will honor the 1995-96 team that won the GLIAC North Division and Tournament in '96 during a special ceremony at halftime.
Tickets for Saturday's game are available at the box office, online at http://lssutickets.universitytickets.com, or by calling (906) 635-2602.
