#25 Ferris State Earns First Win Of Year To Close Out Season-Opening Tourney In Texas

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad, which is ranked 25th nationally, closed out the season-opening Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Tipoff Tourney with an 81-59 win over North Carolina-Pembroke on Saturday (Nov. 2) evening in Canyon, Texas.

FSU, which fell to third-ranked host West Texas A&M in Friday evening's season opener at the event, bounced back in a big way to even its mark at 1-1 on the year.

In Saturday's win, the Bulldogs bolted in front 52-27 at halftime and cruised to the victory. FSU shot 46.6% from the floor and limited UNC-Pembroke to only 29% shooting in the game. The Bulldogs also went nine-of-24 (37.5%) from the three-point line and 18-of-22 (81.8%) at the free throw stripe.

On the defensive end, the Bulldogs held the opponent to only six-of-22 (27.3%) shooting from the three-point line and FSU also forced 16 turnovers in the game.

Senior guard Ethan Erickson led Ferris State with a game-high 20 points in the win, making three-of-six three's in the game. Junior Mykel Bingham added 13 points while junior transfer Tyler Hamilton had 12 points. FSU's Donovan Brown-Boyd added 11 points off the bench.

Ferris State held a slim 41-39 rebounding margin and FSU had only 12 turnovers in the contest. FSU also blocked seven shots with three from Bingham and two by center Nathan Claerbaut.

Pembroke was paced by JaJuan Carr with 16 points. Bradlee Haskell added 11 points and Dallas Gardner scored 10 points in the loss.

In Saturday's win, Erickson matched the school all-time record for career made three's with 240 total, tying former FSU standout Carlton Epps (2001-05). The senior standout also scored his 1,000th career point over the weekend in FSU's trip to Texas.

The Bulldogs return home to host the GLIAC-GMAC Crossover event on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, at FSU's Jim Wink Arena. Ferris State will face Northwood on Friday evening at 7 p.m. (ET) before meeting Lake Erie in the finale on Saturday night also at 7 p.m. (ET) in Big Rapids.