In its only exhibition game of the 2016-17 season, the Grand Valley State men's basketball team dropped a 98-68 decision at Oakland on Monday night (Nov. 7) in a game that was 41-40 at halftime. The Lakers dominated the boards, played a strong opening 20 minutes, and held a second half lead before the Golden Grizzlies pulled away on their home floor in Rochester, Mich.

GVSU held several leads in the opening half and owned a 40-39 advantage before Oakland converted a layup in the final seconds of the half to take the slim 41-40 edge to the intermission. The Golden Grizzlies drained eight of their 13 three-pointers in the second half and outscored Grand Valley State 57-28 over the final 20 minutes.

There were a total of 52 fouls and 59 combined free throw attempts by the two teams. Seniors Luke Ryskamp and Trevin Alexander led the Lakers with 13 points apiece, as each player shot 4-of-8 from the field. Alexander provided a double-double with 11 rebounds and three assists, while Ryskamp added four boards and made all four free throws. Junior Drake Baar was the third GVSU player in double digits, as he tallied 10 points and five rebounds, while making 5-of-8 field goal tries.

Senior Juwan Starks poured in seven points in eight minutes and junior Danzel Wright added five points in his Laker debut. Sophomore Zach West gathered six rebounds, while junior Chris Dorsey pulled down five caroms for GVSU, which dominated the glass against Oakland 46-28. The Lakers owned an 18-7 edge in offensive rebounds, as well. 

For the game, Grand Valley State shot 40.0 percent from the field and 16-of-23 at the line. Oakland connected on 54.4 percent of its attempts and went 13-of-30 from downtown. The Golden Grizzlies shot 23-of-36 at the charity stripe. 

This weekend, GVSU heads to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Quincy on Friday night (Nov. 11) in the team's regular season opener at 6:00 p.m. ET. Grand Valley State will face the host school Missouri-St. Louis at 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday night (Nov. 12).