Release courtesy of D.J. Foster, GVSU Assistant Sports Information Director
Owensboro, Ky. - Grand Valley State used a stellar defensive performance on Saturday night (Mar. 13) in the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament to defeat Findlay, 68-56, and advance to the Midwest Regional semifinals. The Lakers owned a 30-27 lead at halftime and shot 48.0 percent in the second half to earn some revenge on the Oilers, who knocked GVSU out of the tournament last season. Grand Valley State will face Saint Joseph's (Ind.) on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m ET.
The Lakers improve to 22-8 on the year, while dropping Findlay to 24-7 overall. GVSU won two of the three meetings this season against the Oilers and both of the final two games, which featured a 69-55 victory on Feb. 4 in Allendale. Grand Valley State will match up with Saint Joseph's, which the Lakers defeated 76-69 on Nov. 24 in Rensselear, Ind. The Pumas, seeded eighth in the tournament, knocked off the host and top seed, Kentucky Wesleyan, by a 72-70 score on a jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining.
Findlay jumped out to an 11-1 lead on Saturday after the first media timeout on the strength of three three-pointers from Marcus Parker, Aaron Robinson, and Nathan Hyde. Sophomore center Nick West slammed home the Lakers' first field goal on a dunk with 14:37 remaining to make the score, 11-3. The Oilers responded with a triple from Hyde, which was quickly answered by freshman Nick Carreri to make the score 14-6. Findlay's Parker then drained another trifecta to up the Oiler lead to 17-6 with 12:17 remaining.
GVSU then started its 16-0 run on a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Alvin Storrs and freshman point guard Breland Hogan. Storrs then put in a fast break layup, which was quickly followed by a three-pointer from the corner by junior K'Len Morris to make the score 17-15, as the Lakers ran off nine straight points in just over a minute of play. Junior forward Toreau Brown then tied the game with two free throws and when junior Justin Ringler converted a fast break layup in traffic, GVSU had its first lead at 19-17.
Brown then drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to push Grand Valley State out to a 22-17 lead, in which the Lakers scored 16 consecutive points. Findlay stopped its scoreless streak of more than 6:30 on another triple from Hyde to make the score, 22-20, with 5:49 remaining in the opening half. After Findlay got within 23-22, GVSU scored seven straight points on a layup from West off a nice feed from Carreri, a three-pointer that rattled in for Hogan and a fast break bucket from Hogan to put the Lakers ahead, 30-22 with just under two minutes left in the half.
Findlay then scored the final five points of the half on Hyde's fourth three-pointer and a layup from Michael Agunga, making the score 30-27 at intermission. In the opening 20 minutes, neither team shot well with GVSU making 33.3 percent of its attempts and Findlay connecting on 36.0 percent of its field goals. The Lakers made 4-of-10 three-pointers, while UF knocked down 7-of-12 triple tries. Grand Valley State did make 8-of-10 free throws, while the Oilers were just 2-of-2 at the stripe. GVSU owned 10-2 edges in both points in the paint and bench points and a 10-5 advantage in points off of turnovers.
The teams went back and forth early in the second half, with Findlay tying the score at 30-30. Storrs made a short jumper to re-gain a 32-30 advantage and a layup from Ringler upped the lead to 34-30. Findlay tied the score at 35-35 with a long two-pointer from Hyde, but sophomore guard Wes Trammell drained a three-pointer to put the Lakers ahead, 38-35. West then slammed home his second dunk, which was followed by an old-fashioned three-point play for a 5-0 run from West that made the score 43-36 with 12:38 left in the game.
Both teams traded free throws for the next few minutes, but Brown banked in a turnaround jumper as the shot clock expired on one possession, then made the ensuing free throw. After Brown's three-point play, the Lakers were on top, 52-45, with 9:03 remaining. Nearly three minutes later, Trammell drained a three-pointer from the wing to put GVSU ahead 58-49. Storrs then knocked down a triple with 4:40 left to make the score, 61-49, in the Lakers' favor. Grand Valley State put the icing on the cake with another jumper from Brown right before the shot clock reached zero, then a fast break dunk from Storrs to all but seal the deal.
GVSU shot 40.4 percent from the field and held Findlay to just 34.0 percent shooting. The Lakers knocked down 7-of-18 three-pointers, while UF made 9-of-22 tries from long range. Grand Valley State owned a 38-32 rebounding advantage, which led to a 15-10 edge in second chance points. GVSU also owned a 26-10 lead in points in the paint and a 25-5 tally in bench points.
Four Lakers scored in double figures, led by 14 points, five rebounds, and four steals from Storrs. He was 5-of-8 from the field. West and Brown each contributed 13 points, while West led GVSU with seven rebounds and was 5-of-7 from the floor. Brown added six boards, shot 3-of-5 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. Hogan totaled 11 points, making 6-of-8 freebies.