The Grand Valley State University Lakers men’s basketball team lost both road games as they took on Lake Superior State University and got blown out 91-55 and then lost a close battle to the Ferris State University Bulldogs, 86-73.
On Thursday, Jan. 18, GVSU couldn’t get anything going in the first half against LSSU as they shot just 30% from the field and allowed a 25-7 run to end the period with a score of 45-27 going into halftime.
Any hope for a comeback was thwarted by the Lakers’ continued struggles on offense. They shot 28% from the field, with that being their downfall, and LSSU maintained the offensive onslaught by dropping 46 points in the half and shooting a screaming hot 66% from the field as a team.
On Saturday, Jan. 20, GVSU then traveled to Big Rapids, Michigan to take on rival and the No. 2 team in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), Ferris State, in the two foes’ first matchup of the season.
It was a much closer battle as both teams had momentum changes, with GVSU jumping out to a 13-3 lead to start the game before Ferris State was able to come back swinging with a run of their own that gave them the lead going into halftime at 42-41.
The Lakers first-half offense was spearheaded by two ball-handlers as sophomore guard Britain Harris led GVSU in the first half with 12 points, while fellow sophomore guard Mason Docks followed close behind with eight points.
The second half is where it fell apart for the Lakers as they struggled on offense once again, shooting 30% from the field, while their opponent seemed to flourish shooting at 53%. GVSU assistant coach J.R. Wallace thought that some lapses from the Lakers defensively sparked the Bulldogs’ offense.
“The second half we let them (Ferris State) get loose a bit too much in terms of transition and at the basket as they dumped it off and got some easy baskets,” Wallace said. “It really started happening at the end of the first half and then we let them get into the teeth of our defense and they got two or three dunks in a row, so I think that got them going.”
The Bulldogs were able to get an 8-0 run to start the half and then continued to build that momentum by pushing their lead as high as 15 points. A GVSU comeback attempt shortly thereafter cut it down to an eight-point lead with seven minutes remaining.
It wasn’t enough, as the Lakers could not stay consistent on both ends of the floor and with the buzzer sounding that the game ended in defeat for GVSU, 86-73.
Despite the loss, Wallace is focusing on the improvement of the team’s performance on Saturday compared to Thursday.
“We didn’t play with any energy, effort and focus. That was obviously a lot better today, not quite at the level we needed to be, but that is what we’re going to try to continue next week,” Wallace said. “We got two teams coming in that had big wins in the week already, so what we gotta do for next week is we gotta sharpen up some of the details and make sure our energy, effort and focus is continuing to improve as it did today.”
The Lakers look to rebound from back-to-back losses at home as they take on Purdue Northwest University at the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27.
