The Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team took to the court for their first exhibition game of the 2025-26 season against Division I University of Detroit Mercy, with the Lakers losing 86-70.

GVSU struggled to get things going in the first half. Despite the slow start to shooting the ball, the Lakers were still active on the boards all night long, coming down with double-digit offensive rebounds against the Titans. As a team throughout the first half, the Lakers shot 30% from the field and 17% from 3-point range on 17 attempts. Going into the half, the Titans led by 15 points.

Redshirt freshman guard Javion Otten highlighted the Lakers’ rebound performance against Detroit Mercy.

“One thing I thought we did was rebound,” Otten said. “Detroit Mercy is a really good rebounding team, so I thought we kept them off the glass pretty well.”

The Lakers posted a stronger second half on both sides of the ball, totaling 40 points in the final 20 minutes of action, while also allowing fewer points than they did in the first half.

Despite the stronger showing in the second half, Otten detailed a vital point the Lakers will need to improve in order to be the team they aspire to be. 

“One thing I think we need to work on is defense intensity,” Otten said. “There were a lot of times we just got scored on because we lacked sprinting to the ball and putting hands up.” 

Redshirt junior guard David Wilkerson led the Lakers in scoring with 15 points, while also pulling down four rebounds. Sophomore forward Cam Regnerus tallied nine points and seven rebounds, along with senior guard Mason Docks, redshirt senior guard Trevor Smith Jr. and Otten, each scoring eight points.

The Lakers will play their second exhibition game this Thursday before the start of the regular season against Wilberforce University. The game will take place at a neutral site in Detroit, and will begin the regular season Nov. 7 against Northwood University.