Ferris State Falls In GLIAC Quarterfinals And Now Awaits NCAA Selection Show On Sunday Evening

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad could not hold on down the stretch as the Bulldogs suffered a close 91-90 setback to visiting Davenport in the opening round of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament on Wednesday (March 2) night at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The eighth-seeded Panthers pulled off the upset over top-seeded FSU, battling back from a seven-point deficit with six minutes to go to beat the Bulldogs for the second time this campaign.

After Davenport had taken a 43-39 lead at halftime, the Bulldogs regained the advantage and built the lead to seven points in the second half, but DU forced six Bulldog turnovers in the final five plus minutes to garner the win and move on to the league tournament semifinals.

The loss spoiled a 35-point effort from FSU senior guard Walt Kelser, who hit 12-of-20 shots from the floor and made a trio of three's along with eight-of-nine free throws. Outside of Kelser, though, Ben Davidson was the only other FSU player to reach double-figure scoring with 12 points in the game.

Davenport got 23 points from Chris Rollins and 22 points by Jarrin Randall as the backcourt combination fueled the Panthers' victory, helping them improve to 15-13 overall this year. Jairus Stevens added 15 points and Mercedes Leech, Jr., chipped in with 11 points.

The Bulldogs, who had 11 turnovers in the opening half to just five for Davenport, finished with 17 miscues in the game and were outscored 18-8 in points off turnovers. The Panthers also outscored FSU on the break by a 26-8 margin.

Overall, Ferris State came up short despite shooting 52.8% overall from the field and going 29-of-33 (87.9%) at the free throw stripe. FSU was only five-of-16 (31.3%) from three-point range.

Meanwhile, Davenport finished shooting at a 50% clip and connected on 10-of-26 (38.5%) long range tries along with making 21-of-33 (63.6%) free throws. The two teams combined for 51 fouls and 66 free throws overall in a game that featured 20 lead changes and was tied 19 times.

The Bulldogs fell to 21-8 overall, but were ranked second in this week's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Rankings and will now await the NCAA Selection Show set for Sunday (March 6) evening at 10:30 p.m. (ET) at NCAA.com. FSU is expected to make the tournament field for the 15th time as one of eight competing teams for the March 12-15 regional at a campus site to be announced.

Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for additional postseason information as it becomes available.