Ferris State Men's Basketball Suffers First Setback Of The Season

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad suffered its first loss of the 2016-17 campaign as the Bulldogs were upended by Wisconsin-Parkside 85-75 in regional action on Saturday (Nov. 26) afternoon inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs took a 33-30 halftime lead, but the Rangers responded by outscoring FSU 55-42 over the final 20 minutes to earn the win. With the win, UWP improved to 4-1 on the year while the Bulldogs dropped to 4-1 in the Midwest Region clash.

Wisconsin-Parkside shot 49% from the floor in the game and hit nine-of-21 (43%) in handing Ferris State its first loss of the year. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs managed to shoot only two-of-12 (16.7%) from downtown in the setback.

The Bulldogs were led by sophomore center Zach Hankins, who continued his impressive start to the year with a team-high 20 points on nine-of-10 shooting. He also pulled down four rebounds and had four blocked shots 

Along with Hankins, FSU received 17 points from junior guard Peter Firlik along with 11 by junior guard Drew Cushingberry. Senior Quentin Ruff chipped in eight points for FSU.

The Rangers had four players reach double-figure scoring with Alexander Brown notching a game-high 23 points. Kendale McCullum added 17 points with Adam Bonk netting 14 points and Goran Zagorac chipping in 10 points in the win 

Ferris State slightly outrebounded the Rangers 39-37 for the day and owned a 16-11 margin in second chance production with 14 offensive caroms. FSU also outscored UWP 50-38 in the paint and 19-14 on the break, but could not offset the Rangers' outside shooting and their 14-of-21 (66.7%) performance at the line compared to only a nine-of-13 (69.2%) showing in the Bulldog side at the charity stripe.

Ferris State finished with 15 assists, eight steals and five blocks compared to UWP's 22 assists, nine steals and six blocks. Both teams finished with 13 turnovers.

On the glass, FSU was led by Ruff, junior forward Noah King and sophomore Markese Mayfield with six rebounds each. King, Firlik and freshman D'angelo Hughes each had three assists and Firlik compiled three steals for the Bulldogs.

Overall, the game featured nine lead changes and was tied seven times.

Ferris State will hit the road to face NCAA Division I Illinois State in an exhibition clash on Sunday (Nov. 27) starting at 4 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs then return home to open GLIAC play on Thursday, Dec. 1, against the Ohio Dominican Panthers starting at 8 p.m. (ET) at Big Rapids High School.