Junior forward Marquise Gray knocks the ball away from teammate junior center Idong Ibok after the first jump ball during the Green and White scrimmage held Sunday at the Breslin Center. The men’s basketball team faced off against each other to warm up for the season.
When the MSU men’s basketball team takes the court tonight for its first exhibition game of the season, it’s going to go up against a Grand Valley State University team that faces the same high expectations as themselves heading into the 2007 season.
“They’re similar to us,” senior guard Drew Neitzel said. “They have everybody back for the most part from last year’s team, they had a very successful year, and they’re ranked very high again this year.”
The similarities between the Lakers and the Spartans go beyond residing in the same state.
The Spartans return all five starters from last year’s team, while Grand Valley also brings back four starters from a team that went 29-5 and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season.
Like MSU and Neitzel, the Lakers also boast their conference’s leading player in senior center Callistus Eziukwu, the GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year.
Due to that experience and talented leadership, both the Spartans and Lakers are facing high national preseason expectations. The Spartans are ranked No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, while the Lakers also are listed in many preseason magazines including a No. 3 ranking in the Sporting News Pre-Season Poll.
The Spartans and Lakers opened up against one another last season, and it took a 27-point effort by Neitzel to help the Spartans overcome a 13 point second-half deficit to pull out the 61-57 win.
Freshman guard Kalin Lucas said the veteran players remember last year’s come from behind victory and have told the freshmen that even though this is an exhibition game, they should expect the Lakers to come out and play with intensity.
“We just need to go out there and jump on them fast,” Lucas said.
“I know last year I heard we were down by like 12 or 15 points, and I know that Grand Valley probably can’t wait to play and play like they played us last year, so we just have to jump on them fast.”
The Spartans and Lakers tip-off at 8 p.m. tonight at the Breslin Center.
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