Ferris State Earns League Road Win At DU To Maintain Share of GLIAC Lead

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad held onto a share of first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) standings heading into the final regular-season contest as FSU topped Davenport 90-75 on Thursday (Feb. 23) night inside the DU Student Center in Caledonia.

The Bulldogs opened up a 13-points halftime lead and led by as many as 23 points with 8:11 remaining en route to the win, completing a season sweep over their West Michigan counterpart and ending any hopes for the defending league tournament champion Panthers to reach this year's GLIAC postseason event.

The win moves the Bulldogs to 22-6 on the year and 13-4 in the GLIAC with FSU remaining tied atop the league with Parkside. Both teams have only one game remaining in the regular-season.

Ferris State's Solomon Oraegbu posted his second consecutive 30-plus point performance, notching a game-high 32 points on the heels of his 38-point effort at Lake Superior State last week. He went a perfect eight-of-eight at the free throw line and sank a pair of three's to go with an 11-of-18 shooting effort.

Along with Oraegbu, junior guard Ben Davidson knocked down four-of-six three's and netted 17 points in the win. Dolapo Olayinka added nine points and seven rebounds with both Mykel Bingham and Vejas Grazulis totaling eight points each along the front line. All nine Bulldog players who played more than a minute in the game scored.

The Bulldogs shot 50.8% overall in a strong shooting effort, including a nine-of-22 (40.9%) showing from the three-point arc. FSU also made 15-of-22 (68.2%) free throws.

Meanwhile, Davenport finished 35.5% overall from the floor and made eight-of-25 (32%) three's along with 23-of-27 (85.2%) free throws.

The Panthers were led by Marcedus Leech, Jr., with a team-high 18 points off the bench. Jaden Terrell added 16 points and Jordan Sterling scored 14 points.

The Bulldogs outrebounded DU 43-37 for the evening and held a 22-12 margin in second chance production. FSU also outscored DU 48-22 inside the paint and 18-9 on the fast break along with 18-13 in points off turnovers. Ferris State finished with 13 turnovers compared to 14 for the Panthers.

Ferris State closes out the regular-season on Saturday (Feb. 25) at West Michigan rival Grand Valley State in Allendale. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. (ET). A win gives FSU at least a share of the GLIAC regular-season championship pending Parkside's home matchup with Saginaw Valley State the same day.

FSU, which is currently ranked third in the NCAA D2 Midwest Regional Rankings, will also host a quarterfinal-round home game in the GLIAC Tournament on Wednesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena against an opponent to be determined.