The No. 1 seed SVSU men’s basketball team lost to No. 8 Walsh 91-85 in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 1.
After winning 16-straight home games, the Cardinals have dropped their last two.
Following the game, head coach Randy Baruth noted the team’s late season play was not at the level it needed to be.
“We’re just not playing very good basketball right now,” Baruth said. “Unfortunately for us, it’s a bad time of the year when you don’t have a lot of opportunities to get it fixed.”
The Cavaliers started out on top, scoring the first basket with a jump shot from their forward Trey Fletcher.
SVSU fought back with a three-pointer from Caleb Davis and a pair of free throws from Wade Gelhaus.
The first half was close, with three ties and five lead changes.
The Cardinals closed the first half with a four-point advantage and a 36-32 score.
The Cavaliers gained a 42-38 lead over the Cardinals with just over 16 minutes left in the second half.
After trading baskets, the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 10 points at the 8:16 mark.
C.J. Turnage, brought the lead down to five at the 5:20 mark with two layups and a free throw.
The Cavaliers then stretched to their largest lead of the game with 11 points with just 4:16 to go in the half.
Fans received an elite performance from C.J. Turnage, who had a career high 31 points. Turnage went 12-of-15 from the field, and 7-of-12 from the free throw line, but it wasn’t enough to give SVSU the win.
Looking ahead, Baruth and the Cardinals can only hope they get a chance to redeem themselves.
“I told the guys there are times in the season when the ball goes well and it bounces your way and you get a lot of breaks,” Baruth said. “There’s times when it doesn’t, and that’s where we are right now.
“Hopefully we can have another opportunity to get it fixed.”
