GVSU men's basketball fall to rival Ferris State at the buzzer

By BRYCE DEROUIN

Updated: February 3, 2013, 6:43 PM

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GVL / Robert Mathews
Junior Rob Woodson

GVL / Robert Mathews
Senior Breland Hogan

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Two years ago, senior Breland Hogan sunk a game-winning jumper on the road as time expired to beat rival Ferris State University.

This year, it was the same script, but a different ending.

With the Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team trailing by one with 12.5 seconds left, Hogan started his move to the basket and launched a fadeaway jumper over a Ferris State defender from just inside the free throw line. The shot was on target, but left just short as Ferris State (11-8, 10-5 GLIAC) escaped with a 59-58 win over GVSU (14-5, 11-4 GLIAC).

“Just a gut wrenching loss,” said head coach Ric Wesley. “Tough loss. The guys competed pretty hard. Just down the stretch, we didn’t get the stop and didn’t go our way. Had a couple calls go against us, and a game like that, it doesn’t take much for it to tilt either way.”

Both teams traded shots with each other down the stretch. Anytime Ferris would make a big play on offense, GVSU seemed to counter.

With 1:43 left, Ferris State would convert a three-point basket, pushing their lead to four. Hogan would respond with a three-pointer of his own late in the shot clock, which cut the deficit to one.

Wesley substituted in sophomore Ernijis Ansons for defensive purposes and Ansons forced an offensive five-second call. Then Wesley sent Majerle back in for Ansons and Majerle hit the go-ahead jumper, giving GVSU a 58-57 lead before Ferris State scored the game-winning basket on their next possession.

Majerle had the hot hand down the stretch for GVSU, as he scored all nine of his points in the final eight minutes of the game.

“We got a lot of depth on this team,” Majerle said. “Anyone can get hot at different times. It just happened that I was getting the shots in the game and it was happening. We’re really an unselfish team, and it just happened that my teammates got me the ball and I made some shots. They kept hitting me.”

Redshirt freshman Ricardo Carbajal led GVSU with 19 points. He shot an efficient 7-of-9 from the field.

“I’m always an energy guy,” Carbajal said. “I always try to get in the right spots all the time. When the ball comes to me, I’m in the right spots.”

GVSU was without leading scorer sophomore Ryan Sabin (11 points per game) who is still recovering from a concussion he suffered in their last matchup against Wayne State University. The Lakers also were without sophomores Kirsters Zeidaks who is still recovering from a back injury and Darius Norman who is done for the season with a torn meniscus.

“Right now, it’s just super disappointing,” Wesley said. “Hard to fight that hard without feeling great disappointment. We’ll rally the troops. We had a tough week with Sabin, Kris, and Darius being out, but I thought our preparation was pretty good. I thought we came in with a good mindset. We’ll go back home and hopefully get Ryan back this week, and regroup and move forward.”

Men’s Basketball Game vs Ferris State – Photo Gallery

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Published February 3, 2013 Sports, PageOne