ELKINS – The Davis & Elkins College Men's Basketball team fell to Grand Valley State 85-68 in the GLIAC/G-MAC Crossover Finale Sunday afternoon at the McDonnell Center.
The Senators were in a tight battle in the first half, exchanging runs with the Lakers. Davis & Elkins found themselves behind early but took an 8-4 lead before Grand Valley answered right back with an 11-0 run to go up 15-8 inside of six minutes.
A trio of three pointers from
Emre Yildirim,
Dominic Scott-Robinson and
Edmund Parker helped the Senators climb back and take a 22-20 lead with 6:47 remaining in the half.
The Senators and Lakers then traded the lead nine ties and tied the score six more times in a fast-paced close to the half, with the visitors clinging to a two-point advantage at the break, 26-24.
Grand Valley shot 38.5 percent from the field in the first half with the Senators going 37 percent from the floor. D&E, led by
Erkam Kiris and
Trevor English with five rebounds each, outrebounded the Lakers 20-15 over the first 20 minutes.
It took nearly three minutes for either team to score in the second half, but when the Lakers hit a three with 17:12 on the clock, Grand Valley went on a 16-2 run over the next 2:28 to pull away from the Senators by 16.
The Lakers were a tough stop for the Senators defensively, as Grand Valley would go on to shoot 55 percent from the field in the second half.
The Senators would cut the gap back to 10 with 8:51 remaining but were unable to break into single digits for the remainder of the contest, as Grand Valley would open up as much as a 19-point lead.
English and Parker led the Senators in scoring, with both players finishing with 13 points in shortened afternoons. The duo would also foul out, with English collecting seven rebounds and two assists. Parker finished with four boards and a steal.
Donte Doleman joined English and Parker in double figures, finishing with 10 points each. Doleman also had three assists, a steal and a rebound.
The Senators outrebounded Grand Valley State 40-34 in the game with
Erkam Kiris leading the way for D&E with eight rebounds off the glass. Kiris would also finish with nine points in the game and had one assist.
Grand Valley would finish the game shooting 47 percent, while Davis & Elkins shot 32 percent from the field. Both teams made nine three pointers, with Davis & Elkins shooting 35 times from behind the arc to just 23 from the visitors.
Davis & Elkins will return to action on Wednesday, as the Senators host Charleston in non-conference play. The Senators will tip off with the Golden Eagles at 5:30 p.m. in the McDonnell Center.
