ALLENDALE – Jalen Charity gave the Grand Valley State men’s basketball team some breathing room with a layup late in the game.
But the Lakers needed more after a Wayne State basket cut their lead to one.
Charity responded with a thunderous dunk, then grabbed a defensive rebound that led to a David Wilkerson basket as GVSU hit late free throws and pulled away from Wayne State 81-72 on Thursday, Dec. 8, at GVSU Field House.
The Lakers improved to 10-3 and 3-2 in the GLIAC. Wayne State dropped to 5-6 and 2-3 in the GLIAC.
The Warriors pulled within 71-70 after a 9-0 run that included a 3 by Jordan Briggs and two baskets in the paint, followed by two Carlos Paul III free throws with 3:40 to go.
Charity stopped the run with a layup with 2:35 to go as the Lakers clung to a 73-70 lead.
Charity again exploded for a dunk on a pass from David Wilkerson to push the lead back to three. He then grabbed a defensive rebound and Wilkerson scored on a pull-up to make it 78-72 with 31 seconds remaining.
The game was back-and-forth for nearly its entirety, but the Lakers were able to make one final move.
Mason Docks hit a 3-pointer and Trevor Smith Jr. converted a three-point play to push the GVSU lead to 67-58 with 9:12 to go.
A couple more baskets from Smith Jr. made it 71-61 before Wayne State made its move.
GVSU shot 47.5% for the game and made 10-of-22 3-point shots.
Wilkerson led the Lakers with 17 points. Holland native Ethan Alderink and Smith Jr. each had 15. Mason Docks finished with 13.
Smith Jr. dished out six assists and Wilkerson had four. Alderink and Shamus Thompson each grabbed seven rebounds. Smith Jr. tallied three steals.
Wayne State shot 46% and hit five 3s. Paul III had 19 points to lead the Warriors.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: GVSU men’s basketball thwarts Wayne State comeback to seal win with dunk
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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