In a battle between the GLIAC’s two sets of Lakers, the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team took down opposing Lake Superior State University 76-38 Saturday.

The hometown Lakers (12-2, 7-0 GLIAC), playing just their second home game in a month, put on a defensive clinic against Lake Superior (8-5, 2-4 GLIAC) and held the team to 22-percent shooting from the field.

Pacing the defense was red-shirt freshman Asauhn Tatum. The team’s leading shot-blocker made himself a factor from the tip, blocking the first two Lake Superior shots of the game.

“My last game I didn’t do so well with blocks and defense, so I told myself today that I’d go out and follow my system of D-B-R,” Tatum said. “The D is for defending my position, B for blocking the shot, and R for rebounding the blocked shot.”

Tatum’s effort on the defensive end proved contagious, and it spread throughout the team as the GVSU Lakers forced turnovers and an airball on the next three Lake Superior possessions, further frustrating the visiting Lakers.

“I always feel better if we’re doing a good job defensively rather than one of those games where we’re just scoring a lot of points,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley. “I feel like when you play good defense, you’re more in control of the game and eventually your offense will get going, too.”

To combat the tenacious GVSU defense, Lake Superior implemented a 2-3 zone early in the half, but junior guard Wes Trammell and sophomore guard Breland Hogan helped GVSU break the defense and run away with the game with great shooting.

Returning to the starting line-up, Hogan hit a career-high four 3-pointers to go along with three rebounds while Trammell, the top 3-point shooter on the team, knocked in four longballs en-route to a team-high 16 points.

“Our bench is basically our best shooters,” said Trammell, the starting point guard at the beginning of the conference season. “Our top priority is keeping up the intensity on defense, but we’re also out there to keep scoring.”

Multiple GVSU Lakers notched career-highs in the game. In addition to Hogan’s career-best four threes, junior forward Nick Carreri grabbed 10 rebounds, and Tatum blocked a career-best seven shots.

Senior Justin Ringler, who finished with a modest 11 points and five rebounds in the game, moved into a tie with Ron Polus for 17th place on the all-time scoring list at GVSU at 1,300 points.

“It’s an honor, and it’s an individual stat and I don’t take too much out of it,” said Ringler, who averages a team-high 14.2 points per game. “I’ve been put in great positions throughout my career here, and I’m just grateful.”

The victory was the latest in a successful road trip during break. GVSU went 6-1 with a 4-1 record on the road while notching wins at Northwood University, 71-63, to wrap up the semester, and winning a pair of games in the Upper Peninsula. GVSU defeated Northern Michigan University 61-52 and Michigan Technological University 70-62.

“We know we’ve got a conference winning streak going, but we have got to maintain that and not get a big head,” Tatum said. “We just have to go 110 percent and get energy from everybody.”

The Lakers took a short break for Christmas and returned to action in Phoenix against New Mexico Highlands Universiy. Despite a 23 point-10 rebound double-double from Ringler, the Lakers fell to Highlands 73-69.

The following night, the Lakers returned to action against Southwestern College, an NAIA school in Arizona. GVSU cruised to a 76-38 victory paced by sophomore Tony Peters’ career-high 14 points and took that momentum into a 82-60 conference win against Saginaw Valley State University on Jan. 6.

“Once you get into conference season you always have to pick it up a notch, and nothing prepares you like going on the road,” Ringler said.

The Lakers will next see action Wednesday at 6 p.m. when they welcome Northwood to Allendale for the second of two meetings between the schools.

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