Lakers meet North Division rivals during final homestand

SAULT STE. MARIE - The Lake Superior State men's and women's basketball teams play their final regular-season home games against teams ranked ahead of them in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division.

While the LSSU women, who are 12-10 overall and 9-9 in the GLIAC, have a solid hold on fourth place in their bid for the conference playoffs, the men's North Division race is free-for-all that probably won't be decided until the final day of games on Feb. 27. The top four teams in each division advance to the GLIAC Tournament, which begins March 2.

LSSU plays Grand Valley State in a double-header Thursday at Bud Cooper Gymnasium beginning with the women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m. The LSSU and Ferris State women tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the men's game begins at 3 p.m.

The Laker men will pay tribute to seniors Scott Perkins, Garrett Konuszewski and Jeremy Beasley on Saturday. All four games will be broadcast live on Talk Radio 1400, and a pay-per-view video feed is available on the B2 Network.

The GVSU men are 17-6 overall and 13-5 in the GLIAC and lead second-place Ferris State (14-9 overall, 12-6 GLIAC) by one game. And only one game separates third-place Saginaw Valley State (14-9 overall, 11-7 GLIAC) and fourth-place LSSU (12-11 overall, 10-8 GLIAC). The Cardinals also play the GVSU Lakers and Bulldogs this week.

The LSSU men are 1-5 in their last six games and most likely need a sweep if they want a shot at hosting a GLIAC quarterfinal game. GVSU is in the driver's seat despite getting swept last weekend by Northern Michigan, 83-80, and Michigan Tech, 53-46. Ferris State beat NMU, 90-76, but lost to MTU, 70-67.

Incidentally, the most losses incurred by a GLIAC championship team were seven when GVSU and Michigan Tech tied for the 2000-01 league title.

The Laker women rebounded from their Feb. 6 home loss to Wayne State with back-to-back road victories at Tiffin and Ashland last week. They can't catch Grand Valley State or Northern Michigan, who are tied for second in the North Division standings, but hope to avenge early-January road losses to GVSU (73-49) and FSU (60-59). The Lakers are 7-4 at home and 4-6 on the road.

GVSU is 3-3 in its last six women's games and 10-3 in its last 13 contests. FSU is 1-8 in its last nine games. LSSU is 3-1 in its last four outings after losing four straight.

Note: Anyone who purchases a ticket to the Feb. 27 Laker hockey game at Northern Michigan will receive free admission to the men's and women's basketball games between NMU and LSSU, which will also take place that day.