Going into tonight’s contest against No. 2 University of Findlay, the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team is fighting for its postseason lives.

In a season that saw GVSU (17-6, 12-4 GLIAC) ranked as high as No. 3 nationally, a combination of injuries and road struggles has turned tonight’s game against the Oilers (21-1, 14-1 GLIAC) into a must-win for the Lakers.

“Essentially this is post-season play,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley, whose team has dropped out of the national rankings for the first time this season. “All three (teams) will have a chance to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, so there are no easy plays or possessions from this point on.”

Those teams – Findlay, Wayne State University and Ferris State University – represent the final three games of the season for the Lakers. To solidify its tournament chances, GVSU must defeat at least two of the three to get back into Midwest Region’s Top 10, a vital aspect to tournament’s selection.

The Lakers recent woes, which have all taken place away from Fieldhouse Arena, will be less of a factor tonight as GVSU has the luxury of hosting Findlay on its home court, where the team not lost since February of last year.

Strictly looking at statistics, the teams are a mirror image of one another – they rank at or near the top of the GLIAC standings in most categories. Findlay sits atop the conference in scoring at 80.1 points per game, but the Lakers, allowing only 60.8 points per game, sit atop in scoring defense.

Findlay also boasts a gaudy national ranking, but the key to its success starts with its backcourt, a combination of All-GLIAC senior Nathan Hyde and junior Kyle Caiola, a transfer from University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

“They’re a good shooting and driving team, and they shoot over 80 percent from the free throw line, so we’ve got to keep our defense solid,” said Wesley, who sports a 7-8 career record against Findlay. “Hyde is a great player – one of best in country – and Caiola is a very crafty passer, so we can’t give them easy opportunities because they really cause some problems.”

While the Lakers’ injuries have followed Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong – they’ve received a boost from the return of junior guard Alvin Storrs, who will help by defending either Hyde or Caiola.

“Whenever you have a team with this kind of offense, you have to break their confidence and momentum by getting stops and finishing defensive possessions,” said Storrs, who leads the team with 1.8 steals per game. “In a game of this caliber, there’s small room for error, so you have to be that much more focused.”

For Findlay, games of this caliber are a familiar sight. The Oilers, who won the Division II National Championship two seasons ago and have seven players still on roster from that team, will be ready for the Lakers’ charge.

“We haven’t been playing the way that we’d like to recently, but it’s really big to bring in the team that’s leading the GLIAC overall,” said senior forward Justin Ringler, the defending GLIAC Player of the Week. “As a team, we know that we’re good enough to play and compete against teams like this, so we just have to get back to playing well against good competition.”

With the Lakers’ postseason hopes resting on this final stretch of games, Wesley said he is hopeful his team can rediscover their early season success at the pinnacle of their season.

“Hopefully we’ll find something to take advantage of, but I expect it to be very difficult,” Wesley said. “There’s a reason they have the record they have. They’re very solid on both ends and are well-coached, and it’s going to take a very good effort from us to win.”

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