Impressive Outside Shooting Lifts Northwood Past FSU In Men's Basketball Action

Big Rapids, Mich. - Impressive outside shooting helped fuel the Northwood Timberwolves to a 91-84 triumph over the Ferris State University men's basketball squad in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Thursday (Feb. 11) night inside FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

The visiting Timberwolves shot 56% from the floor and sank 12-of-21 (57%) three's en route to the victory as FSU dropped to 19-5 overall and 13-5 in the GLIAC. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for FSU and enabled Northwood to avenge an earlier home loss to the Bulldogs in Midland this season.

In Thursday's tilt, Northwood jumped out to an early nine-point lead only eight minutes into the game. Ferris State fought back to grab a three-point lead, which was FSU's largest of the game, with less than three minutes to play in the opening half.

However, a late surge gave NU a 48-43 at the break and the Timberwolves never really relinquished control in the second half while outscoring FSU 43-41 in the final 20 minutes of action. Overall, the game featured 12 lead changes and was tied four times.

Five Northwood players reached double-figure scoring with talented senior guard Maurice Jones netting a squad-best 17 points. The Timberwolves also received 16 points from Nick Spitzley along with 15 from Dylan Langkabel, 13 by PJ Weaver in addition to 12 from Jermaine Myers.

Senior center Jared Stolicker paced FSU with a game-high 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to go with three blocked shots and two steals. He was joined by sophomore guard Drew Cushingberry with 10 points, but those were the lone FSU players to reach double-digits.

Ferris State finished shooting 44.6% for the night and went eight-of-28 (28.6%) from three-point range along with 10-of-17 (58.8%) at the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs did manage to own a 45-35 rebounding edge and pulled down 21 offensive boards, leading to a 20-6 margin in second chance production, which helped keep the game close. FSU also outscored NU 20-13 in points off turnovers despite having 14 compared to only 11 turnovers on the Northwood side.

The bulk of FSU's scoring came inside where the Bulldogs maintained a 50-30 edge inside the paint. But, NU converted six three's in each half offensively and shot 59.4% overall in the opening 20 minutes of play against the Bulldog defense.

Overall, Ferris State finished with 20 assists, including six from Cushingberry, and the Bulldogs also produced seven blocks to go with five steals. NU managed 17 assists and six steals.

With the win, Northwood improved to 13-11 overall and 9-9 in conference play.

FSU continues its three-game league homestand by hosting Lake Superior State on Saturday (Feb. 13) inside Jim Wink Arena starting at 3 p.m. (ET). Fans are encouraged to wear red as part of a Red Out to help support heart health awareness.

Saturday's matchup will represent the sixth meeting between FSU and LSSU in the past year. The two teams met four times a year ago, including both in the GLIAC Tournament Championship game won by the Bulldogs and the first round of the NCAA Tournament where the Lakers claimed the victory. Earlier this year, Ferris State posted a 86-82 win over Lake Superior State on the road in Sault Ste. Marie.