March 3, 2007

Box Score

Findlay, Ohio - #6 Grand Valley State needed a three-point play by junior guard Jason Jamerson in overtime with 1.6 seconds left on the clock to claim an 88-87 victory over Northern Michigan in the second GLIAC Tournament semifinal contest at the University of Findlay Friday (Mar. 2) night. GVSU (26-3), the defending GLIAC Tournament Champions, will now play top-seeded and third-ranked Findlay (28-1) Saturday night (Mar. 3) in Croy Gymnasium at 7 p.m. for the GLIAC title. Findlay has won 27 straight games overall and holds the nations longest home winning streak (55 games).

Grand Valley State trailed from the 15:25 mark of the first half until the 7:37 mark of the second half when freshman guard David Thompson scored on a driving layup to give the Lakers a 63-61 lead. GVSU trailed by as many as nine in the opening stanza, but cut the NMU lead down to two (34-32) after 20 minutes of basketball. Northern Michigan continued to lead for most of the second half, building a seven-point advantage (52-45) at the 13:21 mark. From the point in which Thompson gave GVSU its first lead in the second half until the final buzzer in overtime, the crowd of 758 in Croy Gym saw several crazy twists and turns.

Dan Redder played a stellar first half, but he was fouled hard with a blow to the head at the 13 minute mark of the second half and did not return. By that point, Callistus Eziukwu already had three fouls in a foul-filled contest. Kyle Carhart put GVSU up by a 65-62 margin with a layup, but GLIAC Player of the Year, Ricky Volcy, tied the game for NMU with a three-point play. Mike Hall hit a free throw and Jason Jamerson scored on a layup off a steal to give GVSU another three-point lead (68-65), but Northern Michigan answered with another three-pointer to tie the game. The teams traded free throws, but Volcy gave the Wildcats a 72-70 lead with a jumper in the paint. Laker guard L.J. Kilgore hit a huge three-pointer from the left wing at the 1:42 mark to give GVSU a 73-72 lead. Eziukwu then hit a shot in the paint to give Grand Valley State a 75-72 lead with 1:22 left.

Eziukwu had what looked like a clean block on a Volcy layup attempt, but a foul was called and Eziukwu headed to the bench with his fifth foul. Volcy made both attemps and NMU was back to within one (75-74). Sophomore guard Pete Trammell scored off a nice feed from Thompson to give the Lakers a 77-74 lead, but Volcy answered again with a jumper from the left baseline. Kilgore was fouled with 10 seconds left in the game and calmly sank two from the charity stripe to put GVSU on top by three (79-76). Volcy missed a three-pointer with two seconds left, but the Wildcats Tyler Kazmierkoski got the rebound and scored in the paint while being fouled. Kazmierkoski hit the free throw and into overtime the teams went tied at 79.

Overtime looked like a daunting task without the services of Redder, Eziukwu, who fouled out, and Mike Hall, who took an elbow to the head with 57 seconds left in regulation and laid on the floor for over five minutes while the Laker training staff tended to him.

"What a job the guys did in overtime," said third-year head coach Ric Wesley. "This was a total team win and we needed every player on this team to step up as we faced a great deal of adversity tonight."

Freshman center Wilbur Ampey was the first Laker to step up and he did so in a big way. Ampey played just one second in the first 40 minutes, but he scored GVSU's first six points in overtime. Wilbur hit two free throws to open the extra session, then put the Lakers up 83-79 with a jumper in the paint. NMU cut the Laker lead to two with a pair of free throws, but Ampey answered with two makes of his own from the free throw line to put GVSU up 85-81 with 2:06 left in overtime. The Wildcats, playing for a bid into the NCAA Tournament, scored five straight points to take an 86-85 lead with 38 seconds left in the game. Volcy blocked a GVSU shot with 24 seconds left and Kazmierkoski was fouled with 18 seconds left. Kazmierkoski hit the first free throw to put NMU up 87-85, but left the door open by missing the second. The Lakers were forced to take a time out with four seconds left when good NMU defense forced the ball into the right corner. Out of the timeout, the Lakers ran a play for Jamerson and he was able to get an open lane on the baseline that he took advantage of and scored on a layup, while being fouled with 1.6 seconds left. He hit the free throw to put GVSU up 88-87 and NMU missed a long shot attempt as the buzzer sounded.

"We battled the entire game," said Wesley. "This was a tough ball game from the opening tip and although I didn't think we played our best, we found a way in the end to get the job done," added Wesley.

Mike Hall tallied a double-double with a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Eziukwu added 20 points, while Dan Redder chipped in 10 points. Jamerson scored nine, including the game-winner at the end, while L.J. Kilgore scored seven. GVSU shot 50 percent from the floor (30-60), 82.8 percent from the charity stripe (24-29), but converted just 4-of-17 three-pointers. Northern Michigan hit 13-of-32 three-pointers and 14-of-18 free throws.