The Purdue Northwest Men's Basketball team fell at home after a great effort against Grand Valley State on Thursday night, 88-81.

The Basics

• Records: Purdue Northwest (5-18,2-13 GLIAC), Grand Valley State (13-10,9-6 GLIAC)
• Location: John Friend Court – Hammond, Indiana
• Attendance: 300

Laborers' Local 41 Player of the Game: Junior Quinton McCullough (Champaign, Ill./Mahomet Seymour) - led the Pride with a double-double off the bench scoring 19 points ten rebounds with four assists and three blocks.

Inside The Numbers

• Senior Dalton Gayman (Nevada, Mo./Nevada) scored a team-high 20 points while grabbing six rebounds and three steals.
• Freshman Will Ashford (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) tallied 14 points and snatched three boards.
• Junior Collin Albert (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran Highschool East) chipped in 11 points and five rebounds.
• As a team, the Pride ended the game shooting 31-of-71 (43.7%) from the floor and went 12-of-33 (36.4%) from the three-point line. The team also recorded 16 assists with six steals and nine blocks on the defensive side.
• Kaden Brown led GVSU with a game-high 22 points off the bench.
• As a team, the Lakers finished the contest going 30-of-73 (41.1%) from the field and shot 11-of-22 (50.0%) from behind the arc. They recorded 15 assists and eight steals with two blocks.

The Breakdown

• Both teams battled back-and-forth for the first ten minutes of the game with several lead changes each. The Lakers held a 22-21 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first.
• The Pride then went on a 11-3 run to take a 32-25 advantage with less then six minutes left until halftime.
• GVSU stormed back to tie the game up at 36-36 with four minutes remaining in the first.
• The Lakers then ended the first half with a slim 42-40 lead heading into the half.
• Both teams came out strong once again in the second half battling back-and-forth with GVSU holding a slim 61-60 lead with 13 minutes remaining as they tried holding off the Pride.
• The Lakers then went on a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game so far with less then ten left in the tight battle.
• Purdue Northwest fought back to cut their deficit to 68-66 with eight and half remaining.
• GVSU went on another run to take a 74-66 lead, and then the Pride answered right back to cut it to a 74-71 game with five minutes left in the contest.
• The Lakers responded with an 8-0 run to go up 82-71, their largest lead of the game, with two and half left in the game.
• Purdue Northwest tried to fight back but couldn't get shots to go down the stretch and the Lakers held off for the win in the end after a highly contested battle, 88-81.
• The Pride held a slim advantage in second-chance points, 22-19.
• Purdue Northwest led the game in fast-break points, 17-13.
• GVSU outrebounded the Pride slightly, 45-42.

Post-Game Quote from Head Coach Boomer Roberts:
"Grand Valley won some big 50/50 balls, and then we lost our poise for a few possessions that really hurt us. Our ball movement has been much better lately, and we had some great looks that didn't go down. Hard to overcome their physicality if you don't bury open shots when they're in rotation."

Up Next

• The Pride continue their home stand when they host Davenport in GLIAC play on Thursday, February 15. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM CT at John Friend Court in Hammond, Indiana.