UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley
State University men's basketball team fell to the visiting Grand
Valley State University Lakers by a score of 66-53 Saturday night
(Feb. 20) in a match-up of top-four teams in the GLIAC. The
loss drops SVSU to 15-10 overall on the season with a 12-8 GLIAC
record. Grand Valley State, which is tied for the top spot in
the league, improves to 19-6 overall, holding a 15-5 mark in league
play.
The Cardinals entered halftime down by eight, trailing the
Lakers by a 32-24 score. SVSU jumped out front in the contest
right away on a three-pointer by junior forward Keithan Jackson
(Grand Rapids, Mich./Godwin Heights HS) nine seconds into the
ballgame. Grand Valley would take the lead right back with
18:58 left in the half. The Lakers would extend their lead to
as many as 11 twice in the first 20 minutes, once at the 5:52 mark
and the other when the score was 27-16 with 5:28 remaining. SVSU
would cut into the lead slightly, but Grand Valley would hold onto
the eight point advantage heading into the locker room.
Jackson led the Cardinals offensively in the first period,
scoring 10 points, including connecting on 3-of-3 from three-point
range. Sophomore guard Greg Foster
(Indianapolis, Ind./TC Howe HS) added seven points in the opening
frame.
Saginaw would cut the Laker lead to two points three times in
the second half, the last being with 14:36 remaining in the contest
after junior Dan
Genther (Lainsgburg, Mich.) drained a pair of free
throws. The Cardinals would not get any closer, however, as
GVSU used free throws down the stretch to close-out with the
13-point victory.
Foster led SVSU with a game-high 18 points and a team-high seven
rebounds. Jackson finished with 10 points and six rebounds,
while freshman guard Chris Webb (Saginaw,
Mich./Arthur Hill HS) also had 10. Senior guard Avery Stephenson
(Romulus, Mich.), playing in his final home regular season game in
a Cardinal uniform, added nine points in 38 minutes of
action.
SVSU is back in action this weekend, as it makes a swing through
the Upper Peninsula to take-on Northern Michigan on Thursday (Feb.
25) in a 7:30 pm contest before playing Michigan Tech Saturday
(Feb. 27) in a game that tips at 3:00 pm.
