Ferris State Drops Tight Game At Home To Purdue Northwest In Weekend Finale

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad went to the wire with visiting Purdue Northwest on Saturday (Feb. 20), but could not complete the weekend sweep as the Pride held on for a 80-77 victory at Jim Wink Arena.

Ferris State took a 38-37 halftime lead thanks to a half-ending three-pointer from junior forward Mason Pline and the game went back and forth much of the way before Purdue Northwest took a double-digit lead late.

FSU climbed back and had a potential game-tying three-pointer from sophomore Ben Davidson bounce away as time ran out.

The Bulldogs were paced by senior guard Walt Kelser, who notched a game-high 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting. He also had four assists in the setback.

Along with Kelser, FSU got 12 points from Davidson and 10 points by Pline. Senior forward Michael Peterson added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Purdue Northwest, which beat the Bulldogs for the first time ever, was led by Vincent Miszkiewicz's team-high 26 points and 16 rebounds. The Pride also got 13 points from Mikell Cooper and Jyrus Freels.

The Pride flipped the rebounding numbers from Friday's contest, registering a 46-30 edge over the Bulldogs on Saturday with 13 offensive caroms to only five for FSU. That help Purdue Northwest overcome 15 turnovers to only eight for Ferris State.

The Bulldogs finished shooting 42.4% overall and were six-of-22 (27.3%) from long range in addition to 21-of-29 (72.4%) at the free throw line. PNW hit on 44% of its field goals and made nine-of-21 (42.9%) three's to go with a 15-of-20 (75%) showing at the stripe.

Ferris State will wrap up the regular-season on the road at Wayne State next weekend in Detroit. The Bulldogs and Warriors square off in the opener on Friday (Feb. 26) at 6 p.m. (ET) with the finale set for Saturday (Feb. 27) at 2 p.m. (ET).