UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – This week, the Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team closes out the home portion of its regular season schedule with a pair of GLIAC contests. On Thursday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m., the Cardinals are matched against Grand Valley State University, while on Saturday, Feb. 18, Davenport visits the James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena for a 3 p.m. contest.
Thursday's game is billed as a "Red Out" — SVSU fans are encouraged to show "Red Pride" by wearing red spirit apparel to the game. The first 50 students at the men's game will receive a free red SVSU t-shirt.
Between the women's and men's games, at approximately 7:45 p.m., SVSU is hosting "Student Appreciation Night," which features free pizza and beverages, compliments of SVSU's head coaches and their spouses: Jennifer and Brad Pruett, and Randy and Meghan Baruth.
A highlight of Saturday's game is "Senior Day," at which SVSU will honor two student-athletes: Tyrik Singh, a general business major from San Fernando, Trinidad, and Jarno Pomstra, a computer science major from Wieringerwerf, Netherlands. Daniel Buyaba, a business administration major from Ypsilanti, will receive recognition for his contributions to the men's basketball program as a student assistant coach.
The 2022-2023 Cardinals are presently 11-13 overall and 6-8 in the GLIAC. This year's team is averaging 71.8 points per contest on 44.2% shooting. The Cardinals are led in scoring by sophomore guard Freddie McIntosh (15.5 ppg); also with double-digit scoring averages are junior guard Tre Garrett (14.3 ppg) and freshman guard Chansey Willis Jr. (10.1 ppg). Redshirt freshman center Kevonne Taylor is averaging 2.3 blocks per game while making 69.7% of his field goal attempts. Garrett is SVSU's leading rebounder (6.0 RPG), while Willis Jr. is the team's assist leader (4.7 AST/G).
"We hope to see a large turn-out of Cardinal basketball fans who will come and support our team at our final regular season home games this week," Coach Baruth said. "My wife Meghan and I, along with Coach Pruett and her husband, Brad, are more than happy to host a Student Appreciation pizza party on Thursday. We also are proud of the achievements of our team members who will be recognized on Senior Day this Saturday. Go Cards!"
