SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University (LSSU) men's basketball team (13-14, 12-6 GLIAC) fell to the Grand Valley State (GVSU) Lakers (18-11, 11-7 GLIAC) in a hard-fought battle in the opening round of the GLIAC Tournament by a final score of 68-64 on Wednesday.

David Wren (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and C.J. Robinson (Clarkston, Mich.) each hit a three early as both teams battled in the opening minutes of the third matchup between the two Laker programs. GVSU would start to make a push, but Caden Ebeling (Shelby Twp., Mich.) was able to convert on an and-one opportunity to tie up the score at 13-13. A few minutes later, Xander Okerlund (Empire, Mich.) would start to heat up from beyond the arc with a pair of threes to propel LSSU to an 8-0 run to go back up by five, and they would nurse their lead to go into the locker room with a 34-30 advantage at the halftime break.

LSSU came out strong to open the second half, quickly pushing ahead to a ten point lead after three straight baskets from Ebeling, but Grand Valley would continue to keep the game close before hitting back-to-back threes to take their first lead since midway through the opening half. Both teams would then go back and forth, always seeming to have an answer for one another with the lead changing hands six more times. However, Grand Valley was able to hold onto a slim lead late, and they would hit a free throw to ice the game away in the closing moments.

Despite the loss, Ebeling led the way offensively with 23 points while Kemon Bassett (Detroit, Mich.) and Okerlund joined him in scoring double-figures with 12 and ten points, respectively.