The next time the Grand Valley State men’s basketball team loses, its season is over. The next time the Lakers win, the season could still be over.

Whether GVSU will make the GLIAC tournament remains to be seen, but, immediately after a home tilt against Ferris State on Feb. 24, the Lakers’ fate will be revealed.

For the season to continue, GVSU must beat Ferris State, and Northwood must lose to Lake Superior State on the same night. No other result will prolong GVSU’s season.

“It starts with practice… It’s all or never. We have to win this game so my focus is we have time this weekend because if we win there’s a possibility we make it (to the GLIAC tournament),” said junior co-captain Trevin Alexander. “Leading up to this game, everybody has got to be laser-focused, we got to click, we got to all be on the same page.”

The Lakers lost the first matchup between FSU and GVSU 74-71 in Big Rapids, Michigan. The intangibles – the stakes, Senior Night and a home court – all point in the Lakers’ favor, but the Bulldogs are also fighting for a more favorable postseason placement, though they have already clinched.

GVSU will be faced with the tall task of slowing down 6-foot-10-inch senior Jared Stolicker, who paced Ferris State with 14 points and 13 rebounds in the first matchup of the season. GVSU wasn’t overwhelmed in the paint, however, as 6-foot-8-inch Chaz Rollins recorded a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.

“They definitely built their offense around (Stolicker), he’s a big target, he’s got a lot of different moves and skills,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley. “Fifth-year guy, he’s been around, he’s a good competitor. He’s a handful that they’ve sort of built their whole offense around and he’s someone you’ve got to focus on and not let have his way around the basket.

“Chaz had a good game (last time), but Chaz has had a lot of good games. It’s a good matchup, (Stolicker) is bigger and taller but Chaz is probably a little bit more active and a little bit quicker, so it’s a constant back-and-forth situation of who’s going to get the upper hand.”

The Lakers will try to control the pace of play in their own barn, and limit Ferris State’s run-and-gun, up-tempo offense.

GVSU has had difficulty finding a groove throughout the course of the season, but now would be the best time for the Lakers to find one. They have not won back-to-back games in over a month, but the Bulldogs are mired in their own recent struggle, having lost four consecutive games heading into this contest.

While the 28^th and final game of GVSU’s regular season has ballooned to become the most important, Wesley isn’t moving forward with an altered outlook.

“Even that part of it I don’t think really affects me. I’m very much in the moment. Even if we didn’t have a chance to continue to play, I don’t think it would effect how I’d approach anything,” he said. “It’s a big game, it’s a senior day, we want to honor our seniors by playing and giving them a positive memory to go out on.

“It’s the last regular season game, it’s our rival game. No matter what, if we were 0-24 or whatever, we’d want to play well against Ferris and have a little bit of a sense of bragging rights there.”

As part of the Senior Night festivities, the four Laker seniors – Ricardo Carbajal, Aaron Hayes, Darren Kapustka and Chaz Rollins – will be recognized. Regardless of the outcome of GVSU’s tournament status, the Lakers will not play another game in Fieldhouse Arena this season.

“(I) just hope the students come out, with the bad weather (there’s) no need to go to Grand Rapids,” Wesley said. “Just come right here on a Thursday night and support us and cheer us on, I think our seniors and team would really appreciate that.”