Northern Michigan Tops Bulldogs In Weekend Home Opener At Wink Arena

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad played its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) home opener against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday (Jan. 22), but came up short in a 67-59 setback at Jim Wink Arena.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 36-28 halftime lead and pushed the margin to 20 points in the second half before the Bulldog rallied. FSU trimmed the deficit to six and had a potential three-pointer that would have cut the margin to three down the stretch, but NMU held on for the win to open the back-to-back weekend matchup.

Northern Michigan utilized a 48.2% shooting effort and limited the Bulldogs to 37.9% shooting overall in garnering the league triumph. The Wildcats also outrebounded FSU 37-32 for the evening.

Ferris State's late comeback helped FSU connect on 10-of-22 (45.5%) three-pointers from long range and the Bulldogs had only eight turnovers in the game despite the setback.

Senior guard Walt Kelser paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 18 points, which included four made three's, while sophomore wing Deng Reng added 10 points and junior forward Mason Pline had nine points off the bench.

For Northern Michigan, Noah Parcher paced the Wildcats with 19 points and Alec Fruin added 12 points with Tre Harvey scoring 11 points.

Overall, the Wildcats were eight-of-17 (47.1%) from three-point range and both teams went five-of-eight (62.5%) at the free throw line.

Along with his 18 points, Kelser led FSU with four assists while senior forward Michael Peterson had a squad-best six rebounds to go with seven points.

The two teams will square off again on Saturday (Jan. 23) with tipoff set for 5 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena. The game will be carried live online at FerrisStateBulldogs.com with pregame coverage starting at 4:30 p.m.