Second-Half Start Fuels Men's Home Win
Big Rapids, Mich. – An impressive 26-8 run in the first
nine minutes of the second half lifted the Ferris State University
men’s basketball squad to an 82-72 home win over visiting
Ashland on Thursday (Dec. 3) evening inside Jim Wink Arena and
enabled the Bulldogs to remain unbeaten in Great Lakes
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action.
After recording a dominating 67-41 league home win over
nationally-ranked archrival Grand Valley State in the conference
opener on Monday (Nov. 30) night, Ferris got off to a slow start in
the opening half versus the Eagles.
Ashland led by as many as 12 points in the first frame and took a
37-30 halftime advantage after shooting 53.6% (15-28) in the
initial period and limiting the Bulldogs to only a 37.9% (11-29)
figure.
The second half was a different story for most of the way, though,
as the Bulldogs forced 12 second-half turnovers and shot 64.5%
(20-31) from the field over the final 20 minutes to improve to 2-3
overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC.
Ferris received contributions from a number of individuals in
posting the league home triumph. Junior forward/center
Justin Keenan made six-of-seven field goal
attempts for the game and connected on nine-of-14 free throws to
finish with a game-high 21 points.
Meanwhile, senior guard Austin Randel scored 16
points, had four steals and dished out three assists in helping the
Bulldogs battle back to earn the victory. Junior guard
Darien Gay contributed 12 points and had 10
assists in a double-double effort directing the offense. He also
added five rebounds and two steals. Freshman forward Daniel
Sutherlin also reached double-figures in his first career
start with a personal-high 10 points and six rebounds.
Ferris made 31-of-60 (51.7%) field goal tries on the night and hit
five-of-10 (50%) three-pointers to go with 15-of-23 (65.2%) free
throws. The Bulldogs were outrebounded 34-30 by the bigger Eagle
lineup, but FSU handed out 21 assists and came up with 15 steals
and five blocked shots on the defensive end.
The Eagles cooled off in the second half against Ferris’
defensive effort and shot 49.1% (26-53) for the game. They made
only one-of-11 (9.1%) field goal attempts and were 19-of-27 (70.4%)
from the free throw stripe. AU had 15 assists, 11 steals and five
blocks in the contest.
Three Eagles players reached double-digits with Bylynn Hatcher
posting a team-best 19 points and nine rebounds. Junior Kale
Richardson was limited to 10 points and six boards while guard
Micah Fraction netted 15 points.
Ferris forced a total of 21 Eagle turnovers and outscored the
visitors 29-21 in points off miscues. FSU was outscored in the
paint 40-30, however the Bulldogs sprinted to 19 fast break points
compared to only 12 for Ashland.
Ferris State concludes its three-game league homestand by hosting
Tiffin on Saturday (Dec. 5) afternoon with tipoff set for 2 p.m.
(EST) inside Wink Arena. The game will be part of a tripleheader at
the FSU Sports Complex with the women’s game prior to the
men’s contest at noon and the Bulldog hockey team hosting
Nebraska-Omaha after the outing at 5:05 p.m. (EST).
Bulldog Bites: FSU’s Justin
Keenan has now scored 19 points or more in each of his
last three meetings against the Eagles …… Ferris
improved to 12-6 all-time versus Ashland and has now won six of the
last seven meetings … FSU head coach Bill
Sall improved to 8-2 in his career against the Eagles with
the victory …… The loss was Ashland’s
fourth-straight series’ setback inside Wink Arena. Au has not
defeated the Bulldogs in Big Rapids since the 2001-02 campaign
…… Junior forward Lou Williams
notched his 300th career point in the contest for FSU
……… Darien Gay moved into
12th place on the school’s career assists chart and currently
has 243 career assists to date …… FSU built a lead as
large as 22 points with 4:13 to play before the Eagles cut it down
to 10 at the end.