Ferris Men's Basketball Picks Up First Win

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad picked up its first regular-season victory of the 2011-12 campaign as the Bulldogs earned a decisive 82-46 win over Olivet in their home opener on Tuesday (Nov. 22) night at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The Bulldogs, who opened the year with back-to-back losses against NCAA Division I teams in Michigan and Central Michigan followed by a regional setback at highly-regarded Lewis (Ill.), scored the first nine points of the contest and never looked back in improving to 1-3 on the year.

The win was the sixth consecutive series' triumph versus Olivet as the two teams squared off for the first time since 2008 with both looking for their first win.

Junior guard Kenny Brown (Farmington Hills/Harrison) fueled the Bulldog win with a game-high 24 points in the contest.  He connected on six-of-seven three-pointers and was eight-of-12 overall from the floor in 27 minutes of action.

FSU also received 17 points and six rebounds from senior forward Jerrell Sanders (Grand Rapids/Creston) to go with 11 points off the bench from junior guard Brandyn Mungo (Westland/Detroit Renaissance) and 10 points by junior forward Daniel Sutherlin (Detroit/Renaissance), who added a contest-high eight rebounds in the winning cause.

Ferris State jumped out to a 35-16 halftime lead as the Bulldogs held Olivet to only 17.9% (5-28) shooting in the initial 20 minutes of play. The lead grew to as many as 40 points with 3:48 remaining in the game.

The Comets received 16 points from Jaren Edsall and 12 from Matt El in dropping to 0-4 overall this campaign.

FSU shot 54.5% (30-55) for the game and made eight-of-14 (57.1%) three's in addition to 14-of-24 (58.3%) free throws.  

Defensively, Ferris State limited Olivet to only 28.6% (18-63) shooting with the Comets making only three-of-18 (16.7%) treys and seven-of-13 (53.8%) tries from the charity stripe.

Ferris State forced 15 turnovers and outscored Olivet 18-3 in points off miscues for the contest.  Additionally, FSU owned a 42-35 rebounding margin and had 11 offensive boards.  The Bulldogs had just 10 turnovers of their own in the game.

The Bulldogs also totaled 17 assists, 10 steals and two blocked shots with Olivet netting six assists, three steals and two blocks for the night.

FSU played 11 players in the contest and 10 of them scored as the Bulldogs' bench outscored the Olivet reserves by a 29-4 count.  Ferris State also held a 36-12 advantage in points scored inside the paint and a 10-0 edge in fast break production.

Olivet never led in the contest and the score was never tied as the Bulldogs led from the outset.

With the win, FSU head coach Bill Sall improved to 3-0 in his career versus Olivet and the Bulldogs increased their all-time series' edge to 16-11 over Olivet.

The Bulldogs will host Wisconsin-Parkside in regional play on Saturday (Nov. 26) afternoon at 3 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena.  A special "two for one" ticket offer will be available with fans receiving two tickets for the price of one general admission seat.