UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's basketball program (12-6, 4-4 GLIAC) fell on the road to the Saginaw Valley State (SVSU) Cardinals (10-7, 3-5 GLIAC) by a final score of 87-74 on Thursday. 

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Andy Soma (Traverse City, Mich.) came off the bench to drain a three while being fouled for the four-point play. Hunter Soper (Lexington, Mich.) would then hit a pair of baskets to keep the Lakers within striking distance while SVSU was able to hit shots early on. The Cardinals were able to pull ahead, but LSSU answered with a 10-2 run that featured an and-one from Omar Suleiman (Canton, Mich.) to get back to within single digits as the Lakers found themselves trailing by eight going into halftime.

Devin Womack (Ypsilanti, Mich.) was able to find several open lanes to the basket in the second half as the Lakers fought back into the game, but SVSU was once again able to hold them back. Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) would then catch fire with 10 minutes to play, hitting on three shots from beyond the arc, propelling LSSU to a 15-2 run that had them all the way back within two with the score standing at 60-58. However, the Cardinals managed to pull back out ahead to close out the game. 

Despite the loss, four Lakers finished the night scoring double-figures, led by Womack with 15. Okerlund and Soper ended the night with 13 points while Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) had 10.

The Lakers will be looking to bounce back when they face off against the Wayne State Warriors in Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 27 with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.