FSU Records Impressive League Road Win

Postgame Audio Report
(MP3 File)

Marquette, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball team posted an impressive 90-76 road win over the Northern Michigan Wildcats in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Saturday (Feb. 13) at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.

Ferris grabbed a 42-27 halftime lead after forcing 16 Wildcat turnovers in the opening period of play.  FSU pushed the lead to more than 20 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and cruised to the victory.

Senior guard Austin Randel paced FSU with a team-high 21 points.  The Bulldogs also received 16 points from junior forward Justin Keenan along with 12 points by senior guard Josh Young. Senior guard Jon Yeazel added 11 points and Ferris also received 10 points by junior guard Darien Gay as five Bulldog players reached double-figure scoring in the triumph. 

The Wildcats received a game-high 26 points from Marc Renelique and 20 points by Raymont McElroy with Austin Rowe adding 11 points, but those were the only NMU players to reach double-digits.

FSU shot 44.9% (31-69) from the floor and made 10 three-pointers to go with an 18-of-23 (78.3%) showing at the free throw stripe.  Ferris shot 70.4% (19-27) in the second half of play. 

NMU shot 53.7% (29-54) overall, but turned the ball over 21 times compared to only seven for the Bulldogs.  The Wildcats made 10 three-pointers as well and hit eight-of-11 (72.7%) free throws as FSU earned a split on its trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Ferris was slightly rebounded by a 35-32 count, however FSU grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.  Keenan had 11 boards overall to go with his 16 points in a double-double effort for the Bulldogs.

FSU netted 15 assists with Young totaling a game-high six dimes for the Bulldogs in the contest.  Ferris also managed 12 steals with the Wildcats recording nine assists, eight blocked shots and only three thefts in the outing.   Both Randel and sophomore guard Dontae Molden tallied three steals apiece for the Bulldogs.

With the win, the Bulldogs won their 14th game of the season in improving to 14-9 overall and 12-6 in the GLIAC standings.  It marks the fifth time in the eight-year tenure of head coach Bill Sall that the Bulldogs have won at least 14 games in a campaign, including the second-straight campaign.

NMU fell to 10-12 overall and 7-11 in conference play with the loss.

The Bulldog victory, combined with a Grand Valley State loss at Michigan Tech on Saturday, also enabled FSU to move within a game of GVSU for the lead in the GLIAC North Division with four regular-season contests remaining.

FSU's win was its eighth in the last 10 games this season.

Ferris State will be back on the road again next week as the Bulldogs visit Saginaw Valley State on Thursday (Feb. 18) for a 8 p.m. (EST) league game followed by another trip across the bridge to face Lake Superior State next Saturday (Feb. 20) at 3 p.m. (EST).