UNIVERSITY CENTER - Lake Superior State used the final nine minutes of regulation to rally back from a 10-point deficit and went on to beat Saginaw Valley State 85-78 in overtime during Thursday's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball opener.

The Lakers (6-1 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) still trailed by nine points, 61-52, with 6:14 remaining and were behind by seven, 65-58, with 2:47 left. Micah Hudson answered with back-to-back three-pointers to shift the momentum to LSSU's favor.

A SVSU turnover and foul led to two free throws by Justin Williams and a 66-65 Laker lead with 1:33 remaining in regulation. Hudson canned another three-pointer with 33 seconds to go, but the Cardinals (3-2 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) managed to tie it, 70-70, on two free throws at the 15-second mark.

The overtime session was a back-and-forth shootout until LSSU took advantage of back-to-back SVSU misses and scored on layups by Andrew Charlesworth and Derek Kinney for a 79-76 Laker advantage with 1:39 remaining. Hudson and Charlesworth both nabbed offensive rebounds to protect Lake Superior State's lead.

SVSU was forced to foul down the stretch, and LSSU made 6-of-8 free throws during the final 37 seconds.

Hudson was 5-of-10 from three-point range and led all scorers with 19 points. Kyle Hunt was 7-of-8 at the free-throw line and finished with 18 points, six assists and four steals. Charlesworth totaled 16 points and five rebounds, while Derek Billing had 11 points and two steals. Williams contributed a double double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, and also had three assists.

LSSU shot 44.1 percent from the field, including 10-of-23 from behind the arc. The Lakers made 23-of-28 free throws and held a 37-32 rebounding edge. They made 7-of-13 three-pointers in the second half after trailing 38-29 at halftime.

Chris Webb led SVSU with 18 points, four assists and three steals. The Cardinals shot 45.6 percent from the field, including 8-of-17 from three-point range. They made 18-of-23 free throws.

LSSU plays at 1 p.m. Saturday at Northwood.

SVSU vs. LSSU Boxscore