UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team hosted a non-conference matchup against the Marygrove College Mustangs on Sunday (Dec. 21) afternoon at SVSU's O'Neill Arena. The Cardinals defeated the Mustangs by a final score of 93-70 for its sixth consecutive victory. The six-game winning streak is the first since the 2009-10 season.
SVSU jumped out to an 8-4 lead following junior Damon Bozeman's second three-pointer in the first 3:14 of the contest. The Cards took a nine-point advantage at 16-7 after a steal and fast break layup by junior Sterling Johnson at the 14:30 mark.
The Mustangs cut the Cardinals lead down to 18-15, but SV responded by scoring the next eight points capped by Bozeman's third triple of the opening half to take its first double-digit lead of the contest at 26-15 with 11:01 remaining on the clock.
The Cards used a Devin Dixon layup to open up the largest lead of the half at 41-25 with less than two minutes to play. Junior Mitchell Baenziger knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 43-27 at the 1:03 mark. The Mustangs scored the final seven points of the half to make the score 43-34 heading into the halftime break.
The Cardinals were led by sophomore C.J. Turnage who scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the opening half with a pair of rebounds and assists. Bozeman finished the first 20 minutes with nine points, all coming on three-point baskets. He was 3-for-4 from behind the arc and added four rebounds. SVSU shot 16-for-28 (57.1%) from the field in the first half compared to 12-for-26 (46.2%) for the Mustangs. SV outscored Marygrove by double digits in the paint (20-10) and off the bench (15-0).
SVSU used a three-point play by Baenziger and a layup by junior Vincent Adams to open up a 15-point lead (56-41) at the 14:57 marker. The Cards had its first 20-point lead following a Turnage layup at 64-44 with just under 11 minutes to play in the second half.
SV took its largest lead of the afternoon at 27 points (81-54) after another Turnage layup at the 6:51 mark of the second half. Freshman Will Stuhr knocked down an easy two-pointer in the paint with a minute left to give the Cardinals another 27-point lead at 93-66. Marygrove scored the last four points to make the final score 93-70.
Turnage scored a season-high 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting. He grabbed three boards and had three assists in the contest. The sophomore was named Meijer "Player of the Game" for his performance.
Bozeman recorded his first double-double of the season as the junior scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds. Sophomore Garrett Hall finished with double-figures as well for the Cards as he scored 10 points including a pair of triples.
The Cardinals shot 38-for-62 (61.3%) from the floor and out-scored Marygrove by a large margin in the paint (54-30), on the fast break (28-12) and off the bench (35-7).
Saginaw Valley improves to 7-2 overall on the season as Marygrove falls to 3-12. The Cardinals return to the court after the New Year for a pair of GLIAC matchups on the road in Ohio. SVSU plays at Malone University on January 2nd with tip scheduled for 8:00 pm and at Walsh University on January 4th for a 3:00 pm tip-off.
