Senior Darien Gay looks for room to move at SVSU (Photo by Rob Bentley)
Senior Darien Gay looks for room to move at SVSU (Photo by Rob Bentley)

FSU Men Pick Up 10th Win Of The Season

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball team picked up its 10th victory of the season as the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 82-74 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) road win over Saginaw Valley State in men's basketball play on Saturday (Jan. 8) at O'Neill Arena in University Center, Mich.

FSU trailed 37-32 at halftime, but battled back in the second half to notch the win and improve to 10-5 overall this season along with 6-2 in league play.  The victory was Ferris' fourth in the last five contests to date.

Ferris took the lead for good with 10:47 remaining and the edge increased to as many as 13 with 93 seconds to go.  The Bulldogs converted six free throws in the final 1:09 to secure the triumph.

Ferris State had four players reach double-figure scoring in the triumph with senior forward Justin Keenan (Grand Rapids/Ottawa Hills) leading the balanced effort with a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds.  FSU also received 16 points from senior guard Matt DeHart (Greenville), who knocked down four three-pointers in the win, and reached double-digits for the second-straight game.

Bulldog senior forward Lou Williams (Muskegon Heights0 had another impressive game as well with 15 points and a game-high 11 boards, which marked the second contest in a row he's finished with a double-figure rebound total.  Finally, junior point guard Dontae Molden (Detroit/Pershing) added 10 points with five assists.

Ferris shot 54.5% (30-55) for the game, including a 63% (17-27) figure in the final half.  FSU made six-of-16 (37.5%) three-pointers and connected on 16-of-27 (59.3%) free throws.

FSU also owned a 44-28 rebounding edge for the night and grabbed eight offensive boards. 

The Bulldogs managed to win the contest despite 17 turnovers compared to only nine for SVSU.  However, Ferris still managed to outscore the Cardinals 16-15 in points off miscues as Saginaw Valley State was not able to take advantage of FSU's mistakes.

The Cardinals suffered the loss despite a game-high 25 points from Greg Foster along with a double-double effort by Keithan Jackson, who had 17 points and 10 boards.  Dan Genther chipped in with 10 points for Saginaw Valley State, which dropped to 4-8 overall and remained winless at 0-6 in conference play.

Ferris State totaled 17 assists as four different Bulldog players totaled three dimes or more in the outing.  FSU also had four steals and two blocked shots compared to SVSU's 11 thefts, four swats and 11 total assists.

FSU limited SVSU to only 39.7% (25-63) shooting for the game and the Cardinals connected on seven-of-26 (26.9%) three-pointers in adddition to 17-of-25 (68%) free throws.

The Bulldogs improved to 48-33 all-time versus Saginaw Valley State with the win, which was the second in a row following a GLIAC Tournament Quarterfinal win a year ago over the Cardinals at O'Neill Arena.  SVSU had won four of the last six series' matchups prior to the loss.

Ferris State will have a week off before returning to the floor next Saturday, Jan. 15, with a conference road tilt versus the Northwood Timberwolves in Midland, Mich. Tipoff for the men's contest at the Bennett Sports Center is set for 4 p.m. (ET).

Bulldog Bites: Senior guard Darien Gay (Detroit/Henry Ford) tallied eight points, six rebounds and four assists for FSU ...... Sophomore guard Kenny Brown (Farmington Hills/Harrison) added seven points off the bench with sophomore forward Daniel Sutherlin (Detroit/Renaissance) chipping in with six points ..... Freshman guard DeMarco Sanders (Flint/Powers) had three assists for the Bulldogs ...... Ferris played only eight players in the contest ...... The Cardinals outscored FSU 34-32 in the paint ..... Both teams took the lead twice and the score was tied four times ....... Justin Keenan reached double-figure scoring for the 93rd time in his 98 career contests and it marked the 71st time in his last 73 games he's scored 10 points or more ....... The win was FSU's second-straight league win on the road and the third victory in Ferris' last four road outings overall.