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Printer-Friendly ModePost-season play up next
March 1, 2010 —
In November, head coach Frankie Smith’s goal was to advance to the GLIAC tournament.
In February, that goal became a reality.
The Cardinals lost to Northern Michigan 74-71 but defeated Michigan Tech 70-64 in the regular season finale to advance to the post-season tournament. This marks the first time in school history SVSU has done so.
“I’m proud of our guys for bouncing back after the loss to Northern,” Smith said. “It’s exciting that our seniors, Adam Gries and Avery Stephenson get to play in front of our home crowd one more time.”
In the Northern loss, the Cardinals committed 17 turnovers that the Wildcats converted to 20 points.
“In a close game, every possession counts,” Smith said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out we can’t turn it over that much.”
Despite the loss, Smith was pleased with the Cardinals free throw shooting. They made 14 of 15 free throws.
“I don’t know what we did differently because we have struggled with it all season,” he said. “It’s nice to shoot like that heading into the tournament.”
SVSU led 33-31 at the break although were unable to contain Northern senior guard Marc Renelique.
“He’s either going to win the game for them or shoot them out of it,” Smith said. “Unfortunately he won them the game.”
Renelique finished with 30 points on 9-14 shooting. It was his three point shooting that proved costly. He made 6-8 three pointers.
“He made some incredible shots,” Smith said. “We had guys in his face and somehow he still managed to convert.”
Sophomore guard Greg Foster led the way for the Cardinals with 21 points and six rebounds in 39 minutes.
“Greg had a great game as far as distributing the ball,” Smith said. “Chris Webb made four three pointers in the first half and they were all a result of Greg’s penetration in the lane.”
After the loss, Smith told the Cardinals the Michigan Tech game was a must win.
“I told them we had to get that win as well as get help from Wayne State. We did our part and so did Wayne State,” he said.
Wayne State defeated Ferris State 85-78.
Cardinal junior forward Keithan Jackson busted out of a recent slump and scored 14 points and pulled down ten rebounds. The rebounds were mostly impressive to Smith.
“We’ve been missing his rebounds lately,” he said. “He is still at the top of the GLIAC in rebounds but he’s had a lot of games with under six lately. It was nice to see him get back on track.”
The Cardinals shot 46 percent and had only eight turnovers, the latter of which pleased Smith the most.
“Going into the tournament, it’s vital that we limit our turnovers,” he said. “This game was a step in the right direction.”
Neither team led by more than six points in the game. Smith hopes the Cardinals can use the pressure packed game to their advantage in the GLIAC tournament.
“It was a playoff-like atmosphere from the standpoint that we had to win and we did,” he said. “It was a tough game, much like we’ll see in the tournament.”
Senior guard Avery Stephenson led the Cardinals with 17 points, three assists, and four steals.
The Cardinals win combined with the Wayne State victory gives the Cardinals home court advantage Tuesday against Ferris State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Admission is $3 for students and $5 for adults. Tickets can be purchased beginning Monday in the Athletic Department.
Smith is expecting a big crowd for SVSU’s first GLIAC tournament game.
“We are doing this for the school, for the community. We want everyone to come out and help us get the win.”