Men's Basketball Falls On The Road To SJC
Rensselaer, Ind. – The road once again proved tough for
the Ferris State University men’s basketball team on Saturday
(Nov. 21) afternoon as the Bulldogs suffered a 98-82 non-conference
setback at St. Joseph’s (Ind.) in Rensselaer, Ind.
The loss was the third-straight on the road to open the season for
the Bulldogs, who trailed the Pumas 43-38 at halftime before being
outscored 55-44 over the final 20 minutes.
The Pumas improved to 3-0 this campaign as they forced 22 Bulldog
turnovers and sank seven-of-23 (30.4%) three-point tries to offset
a 43-30 rebounding edge for FSU.
St. Joseph’s increased its five-point halftime lead to 11
points only five minutes into the final half and FSU could not get
closer than five the rest of the way as the Bulldogs dropped to 0-3
overall with the regional loss to the Great Lakes Valley Conference
(GLVC) member.
The setback came despite a game-high 25 points on nine-of-11
shooting from senior guard Jon Yeazel for FSU.
Junior forward/center Justin Keenan added 22
points and nine rebounds in his most productive game of the
campaign to date. Senior guard Josh Young totaled
11 points with seven rebounds while junior forward Lou
Williams notched a game-best 10 rebounds for the
Bulldogs.
The Pumas had five players score in double-figures with Phillips
Collins leading the way with 24 points. Mark Lake chipped in with
17 points and six assists while Marcus Jackson netted 15 points,
Dayvon Sloan added 13 points and Michael Horton scored 12
points.
The Bulldogs shot 46.7% (28-60) from the floor and were three-of-14
(21.4%) behind the three-point arc to go with 23-of-36 (63.9%) at
the free throw stripe. Meanwhile, the Pumas made 32-of-68 (47.1%)
field goal attempts and hit 27-of-33 (81.8%) tries from the charity
stripe.
Ferris was outscored in the paint 46-28 despite Keenan’s
performance on the inside and the Pumas held a 23-12 edge in points
off turnovers as they limited their own mistakes to only 12 for the
game. SJC came up with nine steals and dished out 17 assists
compared to FSU’s four thefts and 13 helpers.
The Bulldogs are now idle until Monday, Nov. 30, when they open
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play by
hosting nationally-ranked archrival Grand Valley State in their
home opener at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids. Tipoff is
set for 8 p.m. (ET) after the conclusion of the women’s
contest between the two West Michigan counterparts.
Bulldog Bites: The game featured nine
lead changes ......... Senior guard Austin Randel
returned to the Bulldog lineup after missing a game due to injury,
but scored only two points in 22 minutes of action ........ The
listed attendance for the game was 578 ....... St. Joseph’s
improved to 11-2 all-time versus the Bulldogs with the victory
...... Randel notched his 200th point at FSU in the loss .......
The Bulldogs played 10 players in the game.
