Ferris State Hands Ashland First Loss As Bulldogs Win Fifth-Straight To Stay Unbeaten In GLIAC

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad wrapped up a highly-successful road trip to Ohio by beating unbeaten Ashland 66-57 on Saturday (Dec. 6) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action inside AU's Kates Gymnasium in Ashland, Ohio.

The Bulldogs won their fifth-straight game while handing AU its first loss of the year as FSU moved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC. It came on the heels of an impressive road win at Lake Erie in Thursday's league opener.

Ashland fell to 6-1 overall and 1-1 conference play with the loss, which followed up an exciting four-overtime buzzer-beating win over Grand Valley State in Thursday's league opener.

Ferris State senior guard Drew Lehman paced FSU with a game-high 26 points and seven rebounds. He also scored his 1,000th career point in the contest and hit a big three-pointer with 33.6 seconds remaining to help seal the Bulldog win.

Along with Lehman, FSU received 13 points from junior forward James Chappell along with 11 by junior forward Josh Fleming. Junior center Jared Stolicker contributed nine points and eight rebounds in the victory.

On the glass, FSU owned a 19-5 margin in second chance scoring as the Bulldogs grabbed 13 offensive caroms to only eight for AU. Both Stolicker and Chappell had eight boards each with Lehman adding seven and Fleming notching five. Overall, both teams totaled 36 rebounds in the game.

Ferris State shot 40.4% for the day and was six-of-19 (31.6%) behind the three-point line along with 14-of-24 (58.3%) at the line. Ashland made 40.8% of its field goals and converted seven-of-17 (41.2%) three's to go with a 10-of-15 (66.7%) effort at the stripe.

Ashland was led by Wendell Davis with 11 points and eight rebounds. Paul Honigford added 10 points while Cole Krizancic totaled eight points in the loss.

The Bulldogs forced 19 turnovers and came up with 12 steals in addition to five blocked shots, including three by Fleming. FSU also added 10 assists with senior guard Dietrich Lever netting three along with Chappell.

Meanwhile, Ashland totaled 12 assists, three steals and a single block. They forced 11 Bulldog miscues in a game in which Ferris State never trailed.

The Bulldogs will return home to host Ohio Dominican on Sunday, Dec. 14, at FSU's Jim Wink Arena. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. (ET).