GVSU men’s basketball drops first two games of 2016-17 season

The Grand Valley State men’s basketball team dropped the first two games of the season with back-to-back losses in the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge. The Lakers (0-2) lost to Quincy 79-71 Friday Nov. 11 and Missouri-St. Louis 56-51 Saturday, Nov. 12.

In the first game, the Lakers fell behind early and headed into the second half down 11 points. In the second half, GVSU outscored the Hawks, but were unable to make up the deficit. Trevin Alexander scored a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds. Guard Luke Ryskamp struggled finding the bottom of the net, shooting 6-20 from the field for 13 points.

In Saturday’s game, the Lakers fell behind in the first half and were unable to make up the ground in the second half. Justin Greason led the team in points with 13 to go along with two blocks. Guard Juwan Starks played key minutes off the bench with 21. In that time, Starks scored 10 points and tallied an assist and a steal.

The Lakers will look to bounce back from their slow start in the team’s home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 16 against Great Lakers Christian. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

GVSU’s Groveston to speak at 2017 U.S. lacrosse convention

Grand Valley State women’s lacrosse coach Alicia Groveston is set to be one of the speakers at the 2017 U.S. lacrosse convention Jan. 20-22, 2017 at the Baltimore Convention Center. The convention is the largest lacrosse educational event in the country.

Groveston has coached the Lakers since the program started in 2010 and has led the team to four consecutive GLIAC championships. With Groveston at the helm, the Lakers are 66-22 overall and 31-1 against GLIAC teams.

Last season, Groveston coached the Lakers to their best season in program history. GVSU finished with a 15-5 record and received its first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament. The Lakers eventually lost to Dowling in the tournament, but during the regular season, GVSU beat the eventual national champions, Florida Southern.

Revenberg excels in Canadian Football League

Former Grand Valley State football player Brandon Revenberg completed his first season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. The Tiger-Cats finished with a 7-12 record and were bounced from the playoffs by the Edmonton Eskimos in the Eastern Semifinal Sunday, Nov. 13.

Revenberg was the third overall pick in the 2016 CFL draft. In his rookie campaign, Revenberg played in every game for the Tiger Cats at both the left guard and right tackle positions on the offensive side of the ball.

During his time at GVSU, Revenberg was an All-GLIAC Academic Team member and played at guard, tackle and center in his four years in a Laker uniform.

GVSU men’s basketball adds to the 2017-18 recruiting class

The Grand Valley State men’s basketball team added its first member of the 2017-18 recruiting class that will be eligible to play for the Lakers next season. A product of West Ottawa High School, Jake Van Tubbergen will give the Lakers height and length at the guard or forward position.

Van Tubbergen is a versatile player at 6’6” that can play as a guard or forward on both sides of the ball. During his junior season at West Ottawa, Van Tubbergen averaged 16.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Panthers. He helped the team to a 17-4 record and the first Ottawa-Kent Red Conference championship in 12 years. He was also selected to the OK Red All-Conference Team last season.

Van Tubbergen starts his senior season for West Ottawa after earning an All-State Honorable Mention last season.