Grand Valley State University’s men’s basketball team split two games on the road. First, the Lakers were able to beat out the Purdue Northwest Pride on Thursday, Feb. 13, 88-81. Shortly after, on Saturday, Feb. 15, GVSU fell to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 80-72.
On Thursday, the Lakers came out hot against the Pride. The team started early in the paint, and forwards Shamus Thompson and Cam Regnerus were responsible for the first six points. The first 15 minutes of play were neck and neck. In fact, there were several lead changes throughout most of the first half. With roughly five minutes remaining before the half, GVSU found themselves trailing by seven points. This was when sophomore guard Kaden Brown made his mark on the game. Brown knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers in just over a minute of play.
“I can definitely thank my teammates for that,” said Brown. “They are always looking for me and believing in me. That (feeling supported) brings my confidence to another level.”
Brown’s scoring stretch tied the game at 36, with just over three minutes left in the first half. After some more back-and-forth scoring, Thompson was able to close the half with four straight points in the paint. This gave the Lakers a 42-40 lead.
Junior Jalen Charity had a productive start to the second frame. Charity was able to get a shot to fall from beyond the arc less than a minute into the half. That shot was followed up by a tough drive and finish inside by Charity. Brown was also able to get another 3-pointer to fall, which extended GVSU’s lead to six.
The Pride were almost always able to fight back, which cut the Lakers’ lead to one multiple times. However, the Lakers had too many guys who showcased strong performances. GVSU had six players in double figures and shot 50% as a team from the 3-point line.
“Everybody on our team is offensively talented,” said Charity. “During this game, we shared the ball and (were able) to find the open guy.”
After a quick 8-0 run with four minutes left, GVSU extended their lead to 11. This posed too much of a deficit for the Pride. The Lakers ended up winning 88-81, which helped GVSU improve to 13-10 on the year and marked three straight wins in conference play.
The following match against Parkside was an uphill battle for the Lakers. In the first half, the Rangers led for 17 out of the total 20 minutes of play. Parkside took their largest lead of the game and went up by 10 points, with roughly seven minutes left in the opening frame.
Even with the lackluster start, GVSU was not done clawing its way back into the contest. The Lakers went on a sensational 11-0 run in just five minutes. After GVSU grabbed the lead for a brief moment, the game ended in a tie, 37-37, and went into the break.
In the second half, Parkside was able to jump back out to an abrupt 10-point lead. While GVSU was able to bring the score back into single digits, the Rangers had the Lakers in a bind throughout the rest of the game. The Lakers did not lead at all in the second half. GVSU’s last-ditch effort was able to get Parkside’s lead all the way down to one point. However, this was all the Lakers had left to give and Parkside brought the deficit right back up to 10. After a valiant effort, the Lakers fell to Parkside with a final score of 80-72.
