The University of Findlay men's basketball team, ranked first in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll, pulled out a tough, 69-62 win over Grand Valley State University on Thursday, February 5 in Croy Gymnasium. The victory, which assures the Oilers of at least a share of their seventh Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) South Division title, gives them a 19-0 record on the season with a 15-0 mark in the league.

The Oilers jumped out to a 9-2 after a lay-up by senior forward Morgan Lewis at the 17:08 mark of the first half but foul trouble plagued the team the remainder of the game.

Findlay's bench held down the fort in the first half as the Oilers took a 32-28 advantage at the half but the Lakers remained close the rest of the way in classic battle between two storied programs.

Up 59-57 with 2:04 left, junior guard Marcus Parker drilled a pair of free throws to make the score 61-57 before senior forward Josh Bostic canned a tough, fade away jumper with the shot clock running down to make the score 63-57 in favor of Findlay with only 52 seconds left.

Needing a basket, Grand Valley State's Pete Trammell drained a long triple to make the score 64-60 with 28 ticks remaining but sophomore guard Nathan Hyde connected on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give Findlay a 65-60 advantage with 23 seconds showing on the clock.

Up by five, Trammell again hit a tough shot, this time a runner in the lane, to cut the lead to three at 65-62 with only 15 seconds remaining in the game. Hyde and Bostic then ended the Lakers comeback as both made two free throws apiece in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.

As a team, Findlay made 46.9 percent (23-of-49) of their field goal attempts but hit on only 4-of-19 (21.1%) of their three point tries.

The Lakers meanwhile shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor but were forced into 20 turnovers by the suffocating Oilers defense.

Findlay also held a huge advantage at the free throw line where they hit 19-of-24 (79.2%) of their attempts compared to only a 10-of-14 (71.4%) showing by Grand Valley State.

Bostic, an All-American and Preseason National and GLIAC Player of the Year, led the way with 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Lewis added 12 points while senior center Lee Roberts chipped in 11.

Trammell led the Lakers with 19 points.

The Oilers will be back in action again on Saturday, February 7 when they host Ferris State University at 3:00 p.m. in Croy Gymnasium.