Men's Basketball Opens Season This Weekend At D2 Tipoff Classic

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad will officially tipoff the 2019-20 regular-season as the Bulldogs take part in the D2 Tipoff Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

FSU will get an early start on the year by competing in the annual event that highlights Division II basketball.

Ferris State opens the year against Wayne State of Nebraska on Friday (Nov. 1) night starting at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs will then face Texas Permian-Basin on Saturday (Nov. 2) before closing out the event against nationally-ranked Concordia-Irvine (Calif.) on Sunday (Nov. 3) evening. All three games begin at 8:30 p.m. (ET). There will be no live video or internet statistics for the three games.

The Bulldog men's squad returns seven letterwinners from last year's squad and welcomes a strong recruiting class that features a few key transfers and a group of freshmen that could make a quick impact as FSU opens its seventh season under head coach Andy Bronkema.

Last season, following a historic 2017-18 season in which FSU went 38-1 overall and won the school's first NCAA Division II National Championship, the Bulldogs compiled a 20-12 overall record and placed second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division standings.

Along with the second-place league finish, the Bulldogs also reached the GLIAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive year and earned the right to host a quarterfinal-round home contest. Overall, FSU went 12-3 at home last season inside Jim Wink Arena. The past five years with 20 or more wins ranks as the greatest five-year stretch in program history.

FSU is expected to be led by a veteran trio of seniors in guards D'angelo Hughes and Greg Williams along with Walker. Three other regulars from last year's rotation are also back in wings Jaylin McFadden and Michael Peterson along with post Mason Pline. Junior college transfer Walt Kelser, who redshirted last year along with wing Ben Davidson, should make a big impact along with Minot State (N.D.) D2 transfer Dorian Aluyi and NCAA Division I addition Logan Ryan from Colorado State in addition to several promising freshmen.

Following the trip to California, the Bulldogs return home to begin a 10-game homestand with a non-league tilt against Davis & Elkins on Saturday, Nov. 9, inside Jim Wink Arena.