LSSU photo by John Shibley

SAULT STE. MARIE - Seventeenth-ranked Lake Superior State answered Saginaw Valley State's superb freshmen with a 30-for-38 performance at the free-throw line to beat the Cardinals 77-69 Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium.

The Lakers (16-1 overall, 8-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) lead the league in free throws attempted and made. They're shooting 78.2 percent at the line for the season. They shot 78.9 percent against the Cardinals.

For the 10th time this season (and third straight) LSSU rallied back from a second-half deficit and won. SVSU (5-8 overall, 1-8 GLIAC) led 57-52 with 9:53 remaining following a three-pointer by freshman forward Damon Bozeman, who led the Cardinals with 23 points.

Lake Superior State answered with a 12-2 run. SVSU's Calvin Turnage answered Cameron Metz's layup with an offensive rebound and dunk. The Lakers then scored 10 straight on two free throws by Tony Harris, a three-point play by Devin Daly, a Jake Blake layup and an Alex Williams three-pointer.

Daly and Williams both had steals during the game's turning point.

SVSU trimmed a five-point deficit to one point, 67-66, with 3:36 remaining. LSSU closed out the game by making 8-of-10 free throws during the final 2:18.

Derek Billing was 10-of-12 at the free-throw line and led LSSU with 24 points. Williams finished with 18 points and Metz had 14. Daly totaled seven points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Blake and Metz combined for 11 rebounds as LSSU dominated the boards, 40-28. Harris turned in eight points and five assists.

LSSU shot 45.8 percent from the field, including 3-of-11 from three-point range.

Garrett Hall scored 15 points, and Turnage totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds for SVSU. The Cardinals shot 44.2 percent from the field, including 9-of-28 from behind the arc, and made 14-of-24 free throws.

LSSU led 40-35 at halftime.

The Lakers play host to Northwood at 3 p.m. Saturday.

LSSU-SVSU Boxscore