The men’s basketball team couldn’t continue its early January win-streak, suffering a pair of road losses last week against Grand Valley and Davenport.

Against Grand Valley on Thursday, Jan. 10, the team had a hard-fought, close contest, but couldn’t find the win, as they trailed off in the final quarter, losing 85-78.

Sophomore guard James Toohey and freshman Myles Belyeu both posted 13 points, while junior guard Darnell Hoskins Jr. topped the scoring chart with 15 on a less-than-acceptable 4-20 from the field, including 16 three-point attempts.

Action picked up again on Saturday, Jan. 12, in a long double-overtime game against Davenport that saw the Cardinals dropping some points down the stretch once again, losing 94-86.

The first half was a tight battle, as the Cardinals showed that they are capable of keeping up with a team that has seen attention in the NABC Top 25 poll in recent weeks.

The first half ended with SVSU up 32-31 on the back of Australian freshman Lachlan Anthony and his three triples.

The second half was just as tough for the Cardinals as the first, but Hoskins decided that the team wouldn’t go down easy, as he made a turnaround performance from the previous game, going 5-6 from behind the arc in the second half.

Hoskins’ strong shooting performance was enough to give the Cardinals an 11-point lead going into the 11-minute mark. It wasn’t until Davenport’s Robbie Bramhill started to take the game into his own hands that the score began to level.

SVSU was able to hold the lead until a pair of Davenport free throws put the Panthers ahead by one going into the final three minutes of play.

With 48 seconds left to play, Hoskins dropped a bomb from three-point land to give the Cardinals a comfortable four-point lead, but an unfortunate turnover on their next possession turned into a quick layup for Davenport.

After the Panthers’ Janeau Joubert missed a chance to seal the game at the free throw line, the game headed into overtime.

The first overtime was executed carefully by both squads, as only seven points were tallied by either team. This led to a second overtime where the Cardinals finally wore down, falling by an eight-point margin as time expired.

The men will head out for another two- game road trip this week, as they travel to Ashland on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and again against Wayne State on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 3 p.m.

Reported from Dylan Powell, Sports Editor