ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Both Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference representatives were eliminated during the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Midwest Regional Saturday. Top seed Lewis edged No. 8 seed Grand Valley State, 65-63, and No. 4 seed Southern Indiana defeated No. 5 seed Ashland, 66-60.
The Lakers led for 26:30 of the game and were minutes from stunning the hosts, but 15th-ranked Lewis used free throws down the stretch to regain the lead. The Lakers' season ended at 19-13 while Lewis, at 25-5, advanced to Sunday's semifinal.
GVSU's Jake Van Tubbergen scored 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half due to two fouls in the first three minutes of the game. Jeremiah Ferguson and Ben Lubitz added nine points each.
Southern Indiana (23-8) took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Nate Hansen with 16:18 left in the first half, then held the advantage for the remainder of the game. USI led by as many as 15 with eight minutes to go in the game before AU clawed back in with a 13-2 run capped by a steal by Phil Frentsos and a quick transition jumper by Rodrick Caldwell.
Ashland (23-7) had a chance to cut it to one possession, but Kobe Caldwell hit a jumper to stop the run. Caldwell came back at the other end and dropped a 3-pointer to make it 58-55 before the teams traded baskets and the margin was 60-57 with a minute to play.
Noble and Caldwell led the Eagles with 19 points apiece. Noble added eight rebounds to his tally. Aaron Thompson had a game-high nine rebounds while holding USI's leading scorer and first team all-region selection Alex Stein to just 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting.
