Ferris State's Dontae Molden competes in Saturday's game (Photo by Scott Whitney)
Ferris State's Dontae Molden competes in Saturday's game (Photo by Scott Whitney)

Balanced Lineup Keys Bulldog League Win

Click To Watch Postgame Press Conference (Bill Sall)
Click To Watch Postgame Press Conference (Lou Williams)
Click To Listen To Lou Williams Postgame Audio File (MP3)
Click To Listen To Bill Sall Postgame Audio File (MP3)

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad had four players reach double-figure scoring en route to a 86-60 win over Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) newcomer Ohio Dominican on Saturday (Dec. 4) at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The win was the second-straight to open league play for the Bulldogs, who improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC this campaign with the win.

Ferris jumped out to an early 10-3 edge only six minutes into the contest and held an 11-point lead (41-30) at intermission in the first-ever series' meeting with the Panthers.  The Bulldogs increased their advantage to as many as 29 points with four and a half minutes to go in the game and ODU never came closer than 13 points in the final 15 minutes of the contest.

"It wasn't exactly pretty, but we got the job done," said FSU head coach Bill Sall.  "Overall, we came out flat and never really got rolling."

Sophomore guard Kenny Brown (Farmington Hills/Harrison) led the Bulldogs with a game-high 18 points on five-of-six shooting and added both two assists, two steals and two rebounds in the victory.

Senior forward Lou Williams (Muskegon Heights) had one of the best games of his career as he hit seven-of-11 shots from the floor and managed 16 points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots in 21 minutes.  Meanwhile, senior forward/center Justin Keenan (Grand Rapids/Ottawa Hills) had another solid outing with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in a double-double effort while sophomore guard Brandyn Mungo (Westland/Detroit Renaissance) totaled a season-high 11 points and two assists off the bench in 12 minutes.

"That's probably the best basketball I've seen Lou play since he's been here and that's just stepping up and being a senior," Sall said.  "If he can step up and do that consistently, that's a huge bonus."

Ferris State shot 50% (16-32) in the first half and then made 16-of-35 (45.7%) tries in the final stanza to finish with a 47.8% (32-67) shooting figure from the floor.  FSU was only five-of-15 (33.3%) beyond the three-point arc, but also sank 17-of-23 (73.9%) free throws.

FSU limited Ohio Dominican to only 31.7% (20-63) shooting for the day with the Panthers sinking eight-of-25 (32%) three-pointers and 12-of-14 (85.7%) free throws.

Ferris' work on the glass led to a 45-36 rebounding advantage and the Bulldogs came up with 16 offensive caroms, which helped lead to a 26-14 edge in second chance scoring.  Ferris also totaled 26 points off of 16 ODU turnovers and had only 10 miscues of its own.

Offensively, the Bulldogs were able to move the ball as evidenced by 19 assists with six coming from senior guard Matt DeHart (Greenville).  He also added seven rebounds.  Senior guard Darien Gay (Detroit/Henry Ford) chipped in with four assists to go with seven points while junior guard Dontae Molden (Detroit/Pershing) netted three assists in the win.

The Bulldogs utilized 13 different players in the contest, including nine who saw more than 12 minutes of time and the FSU reserves outscored ODU's bench by a 48-17 count.  Mungo and freshman guard DeMarco Sanders (Flint/Powers) both saw increased action off the bench with junior forward Jerrell Sanders (Grand Rapids/Creston) leaving the contest early in the first half after being injured on a missed dunk and not returning.

The Panthers dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the GLIAC with the loss despite having three players of their own reach double-figures.  Aaron Gibbs and Kip Kelley led the way with 12 points apiece while Jake Mochoskay chipped in with 10 points.

Overall, Ferris had eight steals and four blocked shots with the Panthers netting only five steals and two blocks.  They did finish with 15 assists, including five from Morgan Jones.

"We didn't have tremendous flow offensively," Sall said.  "We were a little undisciplined on offense, but unfortunately that happens sometimes."

Ferris State will be back in action on Tuesday (Dec. 7) as the Bulldogs travel to Hillsdale for a key early season league contest against the unbeaten and nationally-ranked Chargers.  Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (ET) at Jesse Philips Arena in Hillsdale, Mich.

Bulldog Bites: FSU's Justin Keenan moved past former Bulldog standout Jarvis Walker (1985-89) into sixth place on the school's all-time scoring chart ...... Lou Williams notched his 400th career point as a Bulldog player in the game ....... Williams moved within three blocked shots of second place on the school's all-time leaders list ...... Ferris State improved to 5-0 overall at home this season with the victory and has presently won seven of its last eight outings at Wink Arena dating back to last campaign.