UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State men's basketball team earned a decisive 96-65 win over Indiana Northwest on Monday night inside O'Neill Arena.
"I think some things that we have been emphasizing over the last couple of weeks of practice showed up, and we were able to do those well," said SVSU head men's basketball coach
Chris Fowler. "There are still some things we have to clean up in order to get to our final goal…but overall, we're happy to get the first one under our belt."
Meijer Player of the Game
Dontez Scott II (Romulus, Mich., Summit Academy North) led the Cardinals (1-0) with 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half.
Triston Nichols (Shelby Twp., Mich., De La Salle HS) hit the game's first shot with a layup on SVSU's opening possession. From there, the Cardinals built a 7-2 lead in the opening three and a half minutes of play.
The Redhawks (2-3) responded by outscoring the Cardinals 13-3 over the next 3:44 to take a 15-10 lead.
SVSU battled back even off a tip-in layup by freshman forward
Cyrus Goins (Westland, Mich., Wayne Memorial HS) at the 8:29 mark. The bucket sparked an 18-2 run that flipped the score to 35-21, with just under three minutes until halftime.
Saginaw Valley held an 11-point advantage, 39-28, as the teams entered the locker room. The Cardinals struggled from deep in the opening period, shooting just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.
Indiana Northwest cut the deficit to nine at the start of the second half but couldn't keep pace with SVSU as the Cardinals' improved shooting widened the gap the rest of the way.
Saginaw Valley State shot 5-of-11 from three (45.5%) and 17-of-30 (56.7%) from the floor in the second half. The Cardinals outscored the Redhawks 40-8 in points off turnovers, 26-5 in fast-break points, and 50-42 in the paint.
Scott II shot 6-of-13 from the floor, 2-of-6 from three, and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. He led the team with four steals and three assists, pacing the SVSU offense.
Niko Newsome (Bloomington, Ill., Normal Community HS) tallied 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and a team-high six rebounds.
Triston Nichols (Shelby Twp., Mich., De La Salle HS) finished with 11 points and contributed with two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Michael Sulaka (Macomb, Mich.) also tallied double-digit points, making his Cardinal debut with 10 points. He led the defensive effort down low with two blocks.
Wilson Huckeby (Freeland, Mich., Freeland HS) scored nine points with 3-of-7 shooting from deep in his collegiate debut. Goins also made his debut with success, scoring six points and five boards.
Randy Chapman Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich., East Kentwood HS) added five points, and
Noah Arnold (Saginaw, Mich., Saginaw Heritage HS) scored two in their debuts for SVSU.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will make their first road trip on Friday to face UIndy for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Indianapolis.
