Grand Valley State University’s men’s basketball team competed in back-to-back themed home games on Thursday, Jan. 23 and Saturday, Jan. 25. The Lakers were able to snag their first win on 616 Night against the University of Wisconsin–Parkside, which resulted in a final score of 59-49. GVSU was once again dominant on Sawyer’s Day against Purdue Northwest. The Lakers won this game 83-64, and extended their win streak to four.
The first half of 616 Night against Parkside could not have been any more competitive. Both teams struggled to find their rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. The high-level play on defense by both teams was a trend throughout the game.
With nearly 10 minutes of basketball played, both teams remained in the single digits. Redshirt junior guard Trevor Smith Jr. drilled a 3-pointer that extended the Lakers’ lead to five. At this point, this was the largest lead of the game.
Smith Jr. was sensational all night on the court. He didn’t just lead the Lakers by scoring 14 points, but he also had four steals and a block to go along with it.
“Trevor is a dog,” said senior William Dunn. “When he is on (the court), we are on (and) we feed off his energy.”
Parkside was able to find their answer from behind the arc in the form of three made 3-pointers. The Lakers found themselves up by just one point at the half.
The start of the second half was a Laker tidal wave. Dunn and junior Jalen Charity were able to hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the half. Then, Smith Jr. once again made his impact known with a steal and transition layup.
GVSU quickly extended their lead to 10 points, just three minutes into the second half. This strong start set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Lakers kept a lid on Parkside’s offensive attack for the majority of the half. The Lakers’ lead then crept up to 20 points with around 10 minutes left of play.
Parkside managed to make an impactful run and get GVSU’s lead all the way down to five, but time was not on their side.
The Lakers hit five clutch free throws in the final minutes and finished out 616 Night with a 10-point win over Parkside.
Just a few days later, GVSU took on Purdue Northwest on Sawyer’s Day.
The Lakers came out a little stagnant during the game, which allowed PNW to get an early 8-0 lead. Smith Jr. was the first to get on the board for GVSU and stop their scoring run. Once again, Smith Jr. was a massive asset to his team, as he finished with 18 points on an efficient 80%.
After a slow start, the Lakers seemed to settle in and a whopping nine individual Lakers contributed to scoring. GVSU closed out the first half on a 13-6 run, and had a 14-point lead.
Over these past few games, the Lakers have been able to come out of halftime with productive possessions. This game was no different, as the Lakers started the half on a 14-2 run. PNW was never quite able to recover from this.
The second half belonged to the Lakers and they breezed their way to an 83-64 win over PNW. This win marked four straight wins for GVSU, and improved the team to 10-8 for the year.
Sophomore Kaden Brown remains determined to keep improving, despite the winning streak’s ease.
“We just have to keep building from it,” said Brown. “(We’re) going to keep taking it game by game.”
