After losing their first two games of the season, the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team (0-2) redeemed themselves against the Quincy University Hawks (2-1) in what ended up as a massive 105-63 victory.
Led by second-year head coach Cornell Mann, the Lakers started the game hot with a seven-to-zero run, five points of which came from redshirt junior forward William Dunn.
Dunn, who came from Youngstown State University, was one of three new transfers to GVSU for the 2023 season and said Mann was one of the major reasons why he made the move to Allendale, Michigan.
“I like what he (Mann) brought to the table. I thought what he wanted out of me and his emphases and it was like ‘What would make me a better player? What more of a well-rounded player?’ So him just talking about work and things like that, it’s really about him,” Dunn said. “I really liked the energy.”
Dunn hit an early three to push the lead to seven, a sign of things to come for the Lakers as he ended the game with 16 points, good for being the second leading scorer on the team and the game.
Three-point shooting was a key component of this matchup as Quincy struggled at just two for 19, but GVSU shot extremely well with a 50% clip on 24 attempts. Dunn was three-for-three and three Lakers hit two or more, but shooting was not the only thing working in the massive win.
Defense led to offense for GVSU, allowing just 26 points in the first half and 37 in the second half and outscoring the Hawks by 20 or more in both halves.
With a dominant first half from star forward Marius Grazulis, who put up 15 points and eight rebounds, the Lakers took control of the paint in the first 20 minutes.
At 6 ’11”, Grazulis was three inches taller than the next closest player on the floor for either squad (6′ 8”). He was GVSU’s leading scorer in 2022, but six total Lakers reached double figures: Britain Harris (17), Dunn (16), Grazulis (15), Trevon Gunter (13), Charles Turner (12) and Trevor Smith (11).
Dunn, who has done so in each of the first three games, credits his teammates for helping make the transition smooth.
“Well, a lot of it has to do with guys just being real open and just welcoming me with open arms. Just helping me find my game, find my spot and just the flow of the offense,” Dunn said.
Mann said the way that the program recruits has facilitated the success of and ease of adjustment for transfer players on the court and in the locker room.
“We only recruit high level: high academic, high character individuals. If you are a high-character individual playing a team sport, then it should not be very hard to be a team player,” said Mann.
Grazulis, a fifth-year senior, said that the dominant performance lifted a weight off of the shoulders of the team.
“It’s kind of like a lot of anxiety and nervousness has kind of been off our shoulders. We can kind of settle in and really play basketball the way we want to play,” Grazulis said. “When you’re sitting there 0-2 after two tough games you’re questioning yourself a little bit, and tonight I think we all came with a mentality where we’re just going to do what we do and we’re gonna let the game take care of itself.”
GVSU will stay at home to take on Findlay University (1-2) on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. before going on the road to play Hillsdale College (3-0) the following Saturday.
