Chances are there wasn’t a lot of adversity occurring during your break this holiday season. In between the time with family and plate after plate of home-cooked food, Winter Break usually serves as a relaxing refresher for the new year.

However, the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team overcame their fair share of on-court adversity on their way to a 5-2 record over the break, highlighted by the program’s 800th victory in their 53-39 win over Saginaw Valley State University on Thursday.

Despite their successes during break, GVSU ended their four-game trip away from Allendale, Mich., with a 69-57 loss at Lake Superior State University on Saturday.

“I thought our preparation was good, our attitude going into the game and throughout the game was good too, we just weren’t very good,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley. “Our execution wasn’t great, but we never quit and made it interesting, but they were able to come up with key shots and big plays to not allow us to sneak back into it in the second half.”

The Lakers (9-4, 5-2 GLIAC), who opened the game shooting 3-of-17 from the field, trailed the opposing Lakers (7-6, 2-4 GLIAC) by as many as 21 points in the second half before cutting the lead near the end of the game.

Offense was hard to come by for GVSU, who were without senior center Nick Waddell for much of the game due to foul trouble. Waddell finished with only six points, but fellow senior James Thomas led the Lakers with 16 points and nine rebounds while junior point guard Breland Hogan added nine points and pair of rebounds.

“When our offense isn’t there, we just have to stick to the game plan and execute no matter what,” said Hogan, who was named the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week last week. “Sometimes when the going gets tough we try to take it on ourselves and sometimes that works, but it didn’t today and we just needed to execute.”

GVSU shot only 32 percent from the field, including a 4-for-17 showing from 3-point territory. While the defense played well in spurts, the fouls that plagued Waddell were problematic for the entire team, as Lake Superior State scored 28 points on a whopping 35 free throws attempts.

Despite their offensive woes on Saturday, GVSU did hold Lake Superior State’s high-scoring senior guard Kyle Hunt in check. The All-GLIAC player scored 18 points, but turned the ball over six times and shot only 3-for-11 from the field.

The team’s other loss on the trip, a 75-73 decision to Seton Hill University at the Gannon Porreco Cup on Dec. 29, was decided on a layup by Seton Hill’s Chris Giles with only four seconds left in the game. GVSU rebounded to defeat Malone University 76-68 in the consolation game, and despite the pair of setbacks, the team enters the upcoming semester with confidence.

“(Saturday) was a bad loss, but I think our confidence is still there,” Thomas said. “We have a lot of confident players, and we just need to come back and get these two home wins this week.”

While the loss knocks the Lakers out of the top spot in the GLIAC North, the team will look to get back on the winning track as they return to their home court on Wednesday night against Northwood University at 8 p.m.

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