Hall’s Late Triple Gives No. 15 SVSU Victory

svsu-garrett-hall

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — The 15th-ranked SVSU men’s basketball team hosted Northern Michigan University in a GLIAC North Division matchup on Thursday evening. After trailing almost the entire game and by as many as 17 points, the Cardinals overcame the 41-24 halftime deficit to post a strong 43-25 second half edge to come back for a 67-66 victory.

Here’s how it sounded on ESPN 100.9-FM

The Wildcats took the lead at the start of the game, pulling ahead by six (12-6) at the 14:32 minute mark. Garrett Hall and Damon Bozeman each drained a basket, cutting the deficit down to a pair of points at the 12:28 mark.

The Cardinals kept within 10 points of NMU until the 5:01 minute mark when Northern extended its lead to 11 after Donnell Segers made a layup, bringing the score to 29-18. The Wildcats stayed ahead by double digits for the rest of the half, ending it a game-high 17 points ahead, 41-24.

C.J. Turnage opened the second half with two free throws and a layup, dropping the NMU lead to 13 (41-28) at the 19:19 minute mark. Wade Gelhaus cut the lead further to nine, the lowest since the first half, with a dunk at the 13:58 minute marker.

The Cardinals kept their momentum up, with Hall adding a layup, followed by a free throw from Bozeman, making it a seven point game (48-41) with 12:41 left in the game. Vincent Adams netted a layup and free throw with 9:10 on the clock, putting Saginaw Valley within just one point of the Wildcats at 54-53.

Saginaw Valley took their first lead of the night, 58-57, after a bucket from Hall with 6:13 showing on the clock. Turnage made a jumper at the 4:09 minute mark and extended the lead to three, 62-59. That marked the largets lead for the home squad in the contest.

Northern Michigan took back the lead and extended it to four, 66-62, with 54 seconds left.

Turnage answered with a fast break dunk to cut the Northern lead to a pair (66-64) with 43 seconds left.

With the ball in SVSU’s hands, the Cards came down the court and Hall would end up getting off a shot with 2.8 second remaining, finding the bottom of the net from beyond the arc to give the home team a 67-66 lead.

The Wildcats’ Naba Echols attempted a three-point heave from halfcourt, which bounced off the right side of the rim and fell to the court, sealing the one-point victory for the nationally-ranked Cardinals and their second straight 20-win season.

Inside the Boxscore

  • Turnage led Saginaw Valley with 23 points, shooting 10-of-15 from the field. He added five rebounds, five assists, one steal and a block.
  • Hall contributed 14 points, shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. His late triple sealed the victory for SVSU.
  • Adams added 13 points, four rebounds and a steal for the Cards in his 23 minutes off the bench.
  • Bozeman posted seven points and led the Cardinals in rebounds with six.
  • Saginaw Valley shot 28-of-63 (44.4%), while the Wildcats were 25-of-47 (53.2%). The Cards hit on just two of their 11 three-point tries while Northern went 8-of-17.
  • The Cardinal bench outscored Northern’s, 31-3. SV also posted a commanding edge in the paint, 48-28.
  • The back-to-back 20-win seasons for Saginaw Valley marks the first time that has happened since the 1984-85 and 85-86 seasons.
  • Saginaw Valley State also clinched a home game in the opening quarterfinals round of the 2016 GLIAC Tournament.
  • SV grabbed 32 rebounds and NMU posted 28.

Up Next for SVSU

The Cardinals host Michigan Tech Saturday (Feb. 13) at 3:00 p.m. in another GLIAC North Division matchup. Michigan Tech is 9-12 overall and 8-9 in the GLIAC and are coming of a 66-61 loss at Hillsdale. Saginaw Valley is now at least two games ahead of every team in the GLIAC overall standings following Findlay’s loss at Ashland Thursday night.

This story first appeared on svsucardinals.com.

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