ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State (LSSU) men's basketball team (19-4, 10-3 GLIAC) fell on the road at Grand Valley State (GVSU) (11-10, 7-6 GLIAC) by a final score of 71-68 in a tightly-contested battle on Thursday.

LSSU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but GVSU fought back with a 9-0 run of their own. LSSU would then respond with a 7-0 run behind a three from Andy Soma (Traverse City, Mich.) and a layup inside by Devin Womack (Ypsilanti, Mich.), but neither side would yield as both teams continued to go back and forth. Lake Superior State found themselves ahead 22-18, but Grand Valley ended the half with a 12-2 run to take a 30-24 advantage into the break.

GVSU was able to extend their lead out to double digits to start the second half, but LSSU steadily closed the gap, trimming the lead back down to one on a Kingsley Perkins (Ypsilanti, Mich.) jumper in the paint. Perkins would then tie up the game at 48-48 before Tyson Edmondson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) cleaned up the offensive glass to put his team back in front. Both teams would then exchange the lead six more times over the next several minutes with neither side giving an inch. However, Grand Valley was able to swing the momentum in their favor in the final minute as LSSU's attempt to tie the game at the buzzer came up just short. 

Despite the loss, five different LSSU Lakers finished the game in double-digit scoring, led by Edmondson and Hunter Soper (Lexington, Mich.) with 13 each. Meanwhile, Womack ended the night with 11 points while Perkins and Adam Harakow (Edmonton, Alta.) each had 10.

The Lakers will look to bounce back when they face the Davenport Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 8 with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.