With their backs against the wall, the Grand Valley State men’s basketball team had two different players step up on two separate occasions over the weekend.

On Saturday, it was senior point guard, and one of the team’s captains, Breland Hogan who was clutch down the stretch for GVSU, (11-3, 8-2 GLIAC) as he scored eight of the Lakers final 13 points in a 70-65 victory over Michigan Tech University (10-4, 7-3 GLIAC).

“I just tried to stay aggressive and seize the opportunity,” Hogan said. “I know my opportunities. I know where to drive and when it’s my time to be aggressive, and I just seized the opportunity and tried to take advantage of it.”

Hogan led the Lakers with 16 points. GVSU held a 38-26 advantage at halftime, but Michigan Tech continued to chip away at the lead, but each time they got close down the stretch, Hogan came up with a couple key plays.

With a little over five minutes left, Michigan Tech cut the lead to four, but Hogan would answer with a three pointer on the next GVSU possession. Michigan Tech would have the ball with a two minutes left and a chance to tie, trailing 62-59, but Hogan came up with the steal and drove the full length of the court to convert the layup.

“That’s what you hope out of your senior and one of your captains and your point guard,” said head coach Ric Wesley. “I thought the plays that he made for the most part, really came at the right time and the right place. They weren’t necessarily early in the offense and he got everyone involved and when things broke down. He picked his spots and he rose up and knocked down a couple huge shots.”

On Thursday, it was sophomore Kristers Zeidaks who came up big for GVSU in a 43-41 win over Northern Michigan University.

With the shot clock expiring and less than five minutes remaining in the game, Zeidaks launched a three that would go in and give the Lakers their first lead of the second half, 38-37.

“When I caught the ball, I was ready to shoot and I was just letting it go,” Zeidaks said. “It felt good when it released and the feeling was awesome.”

The triple was the first points for Zeidaks on the night.

GVSU would capitalize and continue to build on their momentum when sophomore Ryan Majerle threw a lob pass for Zeidaks, who caught the pass and threw it down to complete the ally-oop.

The Lakers would not trail again in the game.

“I’m really happy with our guys that we continued to grind, fight, and work through some offensive woes,” Wesley said. “We finally, got a little bit of a spurt there in the second half and fortunate enough to get the win.”

GVSU will be on the road for their next game, Thursday at Lake Superior State University. The Lakers will then return home to face Northwood University on Saturday.

“It’s really been exciting these past couple of games to have the students back,” Welsey said. “It makes a tremendous difference for our team. Their energy they provide and the enthusiasm. When you look over there and you see that student section full, it is really something our guys feed off of. Hopefully next time we’re back home, we’ll have them back here with us again.

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