March 13, 2007

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Findlay, Ohio - History was made Tuesday night in Findlay, Ohio as the 7th-ranked Grand Valley State Laker men's basketball team advanced to its first-ever NCAA Division II Elite Eight with a 66-42 victory over Northern Kentucky in the Great Lakes Regional final. GVSU, 29-4, will play Barton Wednesday, March 21 in Springfield, Mass. At 12 noon.

Leading 30-25 early in the second half, Grand Valley State went on a 14-4 scoring run to build a 15 point lead (44-29) with 12:38 left in the game. Northern Kentucky would cut the Laker lead to 11 (44-33), but a three-pointer by senior Mike Hall upped the GVSU lead to 14 and the Lakers never looked back. GVSU built a 27 point lead (65-38) on a Wilbur Ampey free throw with 1:53 left. GVSU outscored NKU 38-20 in the second half. The Lakers held the Norse to just 22.2 percent (7-26) shooting in the first half and continued to dominate on the defensive end by limiting them to just 18.8 (7-37) percent in the second half. NKU also hit just 6-of-32 from three-point land.

Grand Valley State hit 44.2 percent from the floor (23-52) and outrebounded NKU 49-35. Callistus Eziukwu, who was named the Great Lakes Regional Most Outstanding Player, tallied 17 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Pete Trammell scored a season-high 17 points and pulled down five rebounds. Jason Jamerson added 10 points and 11 rebounds for theLakers. Dan Redder added seven points, Mike Hall six and L.J. Kilgore four. In addition to Eziukwu, Jamerson and Carhart were also named to the Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team.

Additional information will be added to the story Wednesday morning.