Ferris State Runs Away From Purdue Northwest For GLIAC Home Victory

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad bounced back in a big way, topping Purdue Northwest 75-55 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Thursday (Jan. 12) night inside Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs outscored the Pride 41-28 over the final 20 minutes, breaking the game open to improve to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play. FSU never trailed in the game and held the lead for more than 39 total minutes.

Ferris State dominated the glass, outrebounding Purdue Northwest 51-26 for the night while pulling down 18 offensive caroms. FSU outscored Purdue Northwest 15-5 on the offensive glass and produced 23 points off of 19 Pride turnovers while registering 13 steals.

The Bulldogs were led by Solomon Oraegbu as he notched a game-high 23 points while adding nine rebounds and three steals. Ben Davidson added 14 points with Vejas Grazulis scoring 13 points for FSU.

While the Bulldogs played without the nation's leading three-point shooter in sophomore Ethan Erickson, Thursday's game did mark the return of junior Dolapo Olayinka, who had not played since late December. He came off the bench and scored three points while adding five rebounds and two blocked shots in 16 minutes of work.

Ferris State finished shooting 41.7% for the night and FSU hit 21-of-31 (67.7%) free throws, including 13-of-17 (76.5%) in the second half. The Bulldogs went four-of-15 (26.7%) from the three-point line.

On the glass, FSU was led by Mykel Bingham with 10 boards. Reece Hazelton added eight rebounds off the bench in addition to the nine from Oraegbu.

Purdue Northwest shot only 35.3% overall and went only eight-of-17 (47.1%) at the line, but did make 11-of-28 (39.3%) three's. Mikell Cooper scored a team-high 15 points for the Pride and sank four three's, but fouled out of the game early. Kai Steinman added 12 points.

The Bulldogs outscored the Pride 40-12 inside the paint for the game.

Ferris State will host Parkside on Saturday (Jan. 14) in GLIAC play starting at 3 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena.