The Saginaw Valley men’s basketball team picked up two more wins last week.
Behind its home crowd, SVSU defeated Great Lakes Christian 100-43 on Wednesday, Dec. 9.
The team then won in thrilling fashion on the road, grabbing a 68-66 victory over the Ashland University Eagles on Saturday, Dec. 12.
Senior point guard Sterling Johnson said that the team came out loose against Great Lakes Christian, noting that the victory was a result of the team’s focus on its own play and not the opponent’s.
“As a team, we try to come out and to get better,” he said. “(We’re) not worrying about who we play, but how we play.”
After trailing 4-3 early, SVSU went on a 16-0 stretch and led 39-11 with seven minutes to go in the first half. SVSU went on to dominate the game without falling behind again.
SVSU went into halftime with a 54-18 lead. The Cardinals continued to dominate the game in the second half, posting a 49-point lead with 15 minutes remaining in game.
The Lakes played a better second half, scoring 25 points compared to their first half total, but it wasn’t nearly enough to compete with the elite performance SVSU put forth, and the Cardinals held on for the home win.
Sophomore Devin Dixon led the team with a double-double, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 11-of-20 from the field.
Johnson led the team with four steals. As a team, the Cardinals forced 19 turnovers and grabbed 59 rebounds.
The Cardinals shot 45-of-86 from the field, ending the game with a 52.3 field goal percentage.
After the victory over the Lakes, the Cardinals went on the road to face Ashland. This game was much closer than SVSU’s previous game, as the Cardinals led by just one point with five minutes remaining in the first half.
SVSU went into halftime with a 32-28 lead but soon trailed 41-40 with 14 minutes left in the second half.
With 17 lead changes and nine ties, it was tough to see where the game might end. Ashland led the Cardinals in fast break points 10-4, but the SVSU bench stepped up in a big way, scoring 21 points compared to Ashland’s three.
C.J. Turnage led the team with 15 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field. Kellen Smith led the team with three steals, pacing a Cardinals defense that forced 15 turnovers, which led to 13 points.
SVSU shot 29-of-61, ending the game with a 47.5 field goal percentage compared to the Eagles’ 43.3 percentage.
The Cardinals and the Eagles traded baskets until the teams were tied 61-61 with 2:20 left in the game. SVSU then got possession of the ball with the score tied at 66. With just under 20 seconds to go in the game, Johnson, the point guard, set up a play to have Smith pass to Damon Bozeman. With 1.9 seconds to go in the game, Bozeman made the game-winning layup to seal the Cardinals’ victory on the Eagles’ home-court.
“It was a great team win,” Bozeman said. “(It was) a perfect play call by (Johnson) and the team ran it to perfection.”
The victory brought SVSU’s record to 6-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the GLIAC.
The Cardinals will travel to Ohio to take on Lake Erie College on Saturday, Dec. 19, for their next game.
The Storm are 5-3 following a 82-69 victory over Hillsdale College.
