UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's basketball team (9-9, 4-4 GLIAC) fell to the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (7-8, 4-4 GLIAC) by a final score of 79-73 after the Lakers' comeback attempt came up just short. 

Caden Ebeling (Shelby Twp., Mich.) opened up the scoring for the Lakers. The Cardinals would then take an early lead, but Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) was there to tie up the score with a three. Saginaw Valley would once again pull out ahead with an 8-0 run, but the Lakers responded with runs of 7-1 and 7-0 as Okerlund hit another three to give his team a 22-21 lead. Both teams would then go back and forth as the lead changed hands 11 more times in the final five minutes of the opening half with Saginaw Valley taking a 34-32 lead into the halftime break after beating the buzzer with a three-pointer. 

The Cardinals opened up the second half with a three, but C.J. Robinson (Clarkston, Mich.) answered right back with a three of his own before Kemon Bassett (Detroit, Mich.) tied up the score at 37-37. Both teams would continue to answer one another, but Saginaw Valley would get hot from beyond the arc to build a 14-point lead and force a Laker timeout. The Lakers would then start to let it fly with multiple threes of their own to get back to within single digits. Okerlund would then steal the ball away for a fast-break layup in transition as the Lakers trailed by nine going into the final media timeout. Then, after a bucket from the Cardinals, the Lakers would go on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to within four with 51 seconds remaining in regulation. Saginaw Valley would then miss the front end of a one-and-one, and Bassett was able to get back to the free throw line to make it a two-point ballgame. However, the Cardinals would ice the game away at the free throw line to secure the victory.

Despite the loss, four Lakers would finish in double-digit scoring, led by Bassett who led all players in scoring with 22 and had a team-high in rebounding with 9. Ebeling and Okerlund each finished with 13 points while David Wren (Ypsilanti, Mich.) had ten. 

The Lakers return to action when they host the Northern Michigan Wildcats in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 26 with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.