Ferris State Basketball Programs Hit The Floor For First Time With Alumni Games Saturday

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's and women's basketball squads will have an opportunity to perform in front of fans for the first time on Saturday (Oct. 22) as both FSU teams square off against former Bulldog standouts during "Alumni" games at Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldog women will take the floor first against an alumni squad starting at 4 p.m. (ET) with the men's contest to follow at approximately 5:30 p.m. (ET). Admission for both games is free.

Both teams officially open edpreparations for the 2016-17 campaign by holding their first practices last weekend in Big Rapids. The Bulldog men's squad returns seven letterwinners from a year ago while the women's squad boasts the return of eight squad members from last season.

The Ferris State men's basketball program will open its fourth season under head coach Andy Bronkema. FSU won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship for the second consecutive year last season and reached the NCAA-II Sweet Sixteen in the third season under Bronkema's direction.

The Bulldog men's basketball squad closed a memorable 2015-16 campaign with a 24-10 overall record. FSU reached the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second year in a row and claimed a second-straight GLIAC Tournament Championship while finishing with its first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the late 1980's.

Meanwhile, the Ferris State women's basketball squad will begin its second campaign under head coach Kendra Faustin with a strong nucleus from a young team last season returning.

Following the alumni games, the Bulldog men will play a pair of road exhibition contests against NCAA Division I schools before the start of the regular season, including matchups versus perennially-strong Xavier (Nov. 5) and in-state foe Detroit (Nov. 7).

The 2016-17 men's basketball regular-season will tipoff on Nov. 11-12 when FSU heads to St. Louis for the GLIAC/GLVC Classic to play Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy (Ill.) in regional play. The first regular-season home game for the men's squad is on Nov. 19 against Lewis (Ill.).

On the women's side, the Bulldogs will travel to Bowling Green State for an exhibition game on Nov. 5 against the Falcons in Ohio. FSU then opens the regular-season on Nov. 11 & 13 as the Bulldogs host their own Bulldog Classic at FSU's Jim Wink Arena. Ferris State will play Bellarmine (Ky.) and host Ursuline in the event.

For complete 2016-17 Bulldog schedules, please visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com.

Together, the Ferris State men's and women's basketball programs have a long track record of success that includes more than 1,500 all-time victories, 15 GLIAC Championships and 16 NCAA Tournament appearances combined. In the past decade, the two squads have also combined to claim five league regular-season championships and have made four NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen appearances.