GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Anthony Irvin (Chandler, Ariz./Corona Del Sol) scored a career-high 28 points to lead Purdue Northwest (5-15, 2-10, GLIAC), but it wasn't enough in Saturday's nine-point road loss to Grand Valley State (13-5, 7-4 GLIAC). The Lakers came out on top by a final score of 89-80.
HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS:
"We played with the level of focus we needed today, and we did a lot of good things. We shared the rock and got good shots. Ant was terrific and guys fed off his play. But we didn't rebound or finish possessions well enough, and Grand Valley's veteran leadership won out down the stretch. We're playing five freshmen or Covid freshmen major minutes, so it's part of the maturing process for our young team."
How it happened: Irvin, who made eight threes on the day, caught fire with three consecutive treys late in the first half, bringing PNW back from a 12-point deficit to lead 34-33 with under three minutes until halftime. Irvin had 17 points at the break and the Pride collectively went 7 of 12 from range to trail by just a three-point margin, 39-36.
The second half featured more of the same as the host Lakers ran out to a 16-point lead, but the Pride would rally late to cut the deficit down to five.
Anthony Barnard's (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) 3-pointer with five minutes left made it 75-65, then a layup from Caleb Zurliene (Breese, Ill./Mater Dei) got the Pride within single digits.
Barnard and Irvin drained back-to-back threes, slicing the deficit to 82-77 with 1:30 remaining but that was as close as PNW would get. Sangolay Njie (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) buried another three in the final minute to make it 85-80, but the Lakers closed out the game at the free-throw line.
GVSU's Jake Van Tubbergen, who recorded a 30-point, 14-rebound double-double effort, went 9 for 10 at the free-throw line down the stretch. Deleon Brown added 24 points to help the Lakers hold off the Pride.
Barnard and Jyrus Freels (Evansville, Ind./Francis Joseph Reitz) each scored in double figures for the Pride with 14 and 10, respectively.
Both teams shot near the 50-percent mark from the field with the difference coming at the line. GVSU finished the contest shooting 21 for 26, while PNW went 11 for 13 on free throws. The Lakers also registered a 36-25 advantage in rebounds. The Pride out-shot the Lakers from three-point range, going 52 percent on 13-of-25 shooting.
UP NEXT
PNW is slated for a Thursday night matchup against Michigan Tech (7 p.m.) at the Hammond Campus Fitness & Recreation Center. Then, the Pride will welcome Northern Michigan (3 p.m.) on Saturday afternoon.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Men's Basketball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics & @PNWBasketball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
