League Leader Ferris State Registers Rivalry Road Win Over Grand Valley State

Postgame Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad posted its third consecutive victory and stayed on top of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) standings by pulling out an 83-76 West Michigan league rivalry road win on Thursday (Jan. 13) night before a large crowd at Grand Valley State.

FSU claimed the conference victory in its first trip to Allendale in nearly three years, beating GVSU to improve to 12-3 overall and remain the league's only unbeaten team in conference play at 7-0 in the GLIAC.

Senior wing Dorian Aluyi and graduate senior Lee Higgins sparked the road win, totaling 23 and 21 points, respectively, in the game. The duo came up the biggest when needed most as Aluyi connected on a pair of three's and Higgins hit one inside of the final media timeout with the game virtually even at the four-minute mark.

Overall, Aluyi finished five-of-seven from long range and Higgins connected on three-of-six tries behind the arc as FSU finished 11-of-25 (44%) as a team. From the floor, the Bulldogs shot 39.2% for the game and also made 14-of-17 (82.4%) free throws.

Along with Aluyi and Higgins, senior guard Walt Kelser also reached double-figures with 10 points in the win. FSU also got nine points off the bench from redshirt sophomore Ben Davidson.

The Bulldogs had only five total turnovers in the game and despite being slightly outrebounded 46-44, FSU did own a 14-13 edge in offensive boards.

Defensively, the Bulldogs limited GVSU to a 41.7% shooting figure with the Lakers managing only a six-of-20 (30%) showing from long range. Grand Valley State hit on 10-of-15 (66.7%) free throws.

The Lakers were paced by Jake Van Tubbergen and Deleon Brown with 17 points each. Jordan Harris chipped in with 10 points as Grand Valley fell to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the GLIAC.

Kelser led FSU on the glass with nine rebounds while Aluyi dished out a team-high four assists for the Bulldogs, who beat GVSU for the seventh time in the last eight matchups.

Ferris State will visit fellow West Michigan counterpart Davenport on Saturday (Jan. 15) for a 3 p.m. (ET) GLIAC encounter in Caledonia.