Ferris State Men's Basketball Records Season-Opening Road Victory In St. Louis

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad started off the 2016-17 campaign in a big way as the Bulldogs posted a 73-61 victory over host Missouri-St. Louis to open the GLIAC/GLVC Classic on Friday (Nov. 11) night in St. Louis, Mo.

The Bulldogs took a six-point halftime lead and outscored the Tritons 40-34 in the second half to open the year with a win. It came on the heels of an impressive exhibition victory on the road at NCAA Division I Detroit Mercy on Monday evening.

Ferris State was led by sophomore center Zach Hankins, who tallied 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the victory. Junior guard Peter Firlik added 17 points on eight-of-10 shooting while Markese Mayfield tallied 12 points off the bench in the win.

The Bulldogs compiled a 50.8% shooting figure despite hitting only five-of-20 (25%) three's and attempting only four free throws (2-4) in the road game.

Meanwhile, Missouri-St. Louis shot 38.7% overall and was three-of-15 (20%) from three-point land along with 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the charity stripe.

The Tritons were led by Hunter Reine with 17 points and 17 rebounds. They also received 16 points from D.J. White, but those were the only two UMSL palyers to reach doulbe-figures on the night.

Ferris State never trailed in the game and led by as many as 17 points with just over a minute remaining in the game. The Bulldogs tallied 42 points in the paint to 32 for UMSL and scored 11 points off turnovers. However, the hosts did own a 24-12 edge in second chance production on the strength of 16 offensive boards.

The Bulldogs had only nine turnovers and came up with eight steals along with six blocked shots in the triumph. FSU also dished out 16 assists, including five from junior wing Noah King. Mayfield had three steals to lead FSU in that category.

Finally, UMSL finished with 13 turnovers and netted three steals and two blocks with 14 assists in the setback.

Ferris State will wrap up the GLIAC/GLVC Classic on Saturday (Nov. 12) as the Bulldogs take on Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) divisional favorite Quincy (Ill.) starting at 6 p.m. (ET) in St. Louis.