Men’s Basketball drops two road games

The Grand Valley State University (14-7) men’s basketball team went on the road Feb. 3 and 5 to Sault St. Marie for their games against Lake Superior State (13-7) and then to Big Rapids for Ferris State University (18-3). These were the Laker’s first road losses of the season and their overall record dropped to 8-5 in the GLIAC. They lost both games by just three points.

On Thursday, the Lakers opened up the first half with a 12-point lead with senior guard Deleon Brown taking charge. The Lakers’ strong start was quickly diminished when the first half ended and the team started the second half under pressure.

With a little bit of foul trouble starting off the half, senior forward Jake Van Tubbergen rejoined the game after Lake Superior benefitted off free throws. With five minutes left in the game and the score at 64-62 LSS, Van Tubbergen and Brown’s 34 combined points couldn’t get the score up enough for the win. With the game tied 71-71 with 13 seconds left, LSS scored on a layup for the game point. The final score was 75-72, LSS.

On Saturday, the Lakers fell short in the final moments of the game once again. Van Tubbergen came up with 14 points right behind senior Christian Negron with 16, half of which boosted a 10-2 GVSU run in the second half of the game, breaking the 37-37 tie. Brown led the scoring of the night with 19 points, but just as the clock ran out with seven seconds left and a three-point deficit, the Lakers fell to the Bulldogs.

Next up on the Laker’s schedule is Northern Michigan University (8-11) Feb. 10 to try and regain their strength this season.

Brandon Miller breaks 200m dash GV record 

Freshman track and field athlete Brandon Miller broke the 200m dash record last week at the Grand Valley State University’s Snowdown Showdown on Feb. 4.  As the only GVSU athlete to hit a qualifying mark on the men’s side in the GLIAC so far this season, Miller ran a 21.57, 12 seconds under the provisional time.

The previous school record for the 200m dash on the men’s side was made by Sean Wells in 2015 with a time of 21. 62.

Miller also competed in the 60m for 7:04 and the 4×400 relay on Friday, hitting a personal-best in the latter with a time of 3:12:92.

Miller and his teammates will travel to South Bend, Indiana to compete in the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 5 to continue making qualifying marks for the upcoming GLIAC Indoor Championships at the end of the month.