Parkside 78, #19 Grand Valley State 67
The Parkside men's basketball team earned a signature road win Thursday night at No. 19 Grand Valley State, where redshirt-senior Tray Croft scored 21 points in the second half, including 15 straight late in the game, to lead the Rangers to a 78-67 win. The Rangers finished 19-of-21 at the free-throw line in the second half, while GVSU went just 1-of-3.
 
The Green & White improved to 9-9 overall, 6-5 in the GLIAC and have now won four of its last five ball games.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After GVSU hit a 3-pointer to start the game, Parkside ripped off a 9-0 run and held on to a narrow lead until the end of the first half. The Lakers used a short 6-0 run in the final 2:00 to take back the lead and go into the break up 32-30.
 
In the second half, Parkside quickly grabbed the lead and used an 8-0 run to go up 49-41 with 12:10 to play. The final 7:50 is where Tray Croft took off, scoring 15 straight points for the Rangers over a stretch of just over 5:00. With Croft catching fire, the Lakers could not recover and Parkside left Allendale with a road victory.
 
STATWORTHY
Croft led all scorers with 26 points and also had a team-high four assists in his eighth 20-point game of the season. Redshirt-sophomore Vinson Sigmon Jr. finished with 13 points and hit three 3-pointers while redshirt-senior Brandon Hau had 11 points.
 
Parkside went -7 in rebounding, but got a major lift at the free-throw line, going 20-of-23 while GVSU went 3-of-9. The Rangers were also efficient from deep, going 10-of-24 as Croft, Sigmon Jr. and Hau each had three triples.
 
Three players from GVSU scored in double-figures, but the Rangers held Jake Van Tubbergen, one of the top players in the GLIAC, to seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
 
WHO'S UP NEXT
Parkside will finish out the road weekend with a game against Davenport on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. The Rangers return home on Feb. 3 for Pink Night against Northern Michigan in De Simone Arena.