Ferris State Runs Away From Roosevelt In Monday Night Home Victory

Postgame Interview & Highlights 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad took advantage of the home floor on Monday (Feb. 3) night as the Bulldogs handed Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) newcomer Roosevelt University a 96-72 setback in the Lakers' first visit to Jim Wink Arena.

Ferris State snapped a two-game skid with a big second-half performance, totaling 56 points over the final 20 minutes to improve to 19-4 on the year and hold onto second place overall in the GLIAC with a 9-3 league mark.

The Bulldgos built a 40-33 halftime lead and pushed the margin to as many as 27 points in the second half. Overall, FSU outscored Roosevelt by a 56-39 margin in the second half of play and FSU never trailed by more than two points in the contest.

Junior guard Tyler Hamilton and senior guard Ethan Erickson both tallied a team-high 21 points in the triumph with Erickson finishing six-of-11 from the three-point stripe. Junior Nathan Claerbaut added 11 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double effort while both senior Reece Hazelton and junior Mykel Bingham tallied nine points each.

The Bulldogs also got eight points, six assists and five rebounds from senior guard Jimmy Scholler while senior Deng Reng finished with seven points and six boards.

Ferris State shot 52.2% from the floor for the night and made 12-of-32 (37.5%) three's to go with 12-of-17 (70.6%) free throws.

On the glass, the Bulldogs earned a 41-33 edge and Ferris State had 17 offensive boards, which led to a 23-15 margin in second chance scoring. The Bulldogs also held a 25-17 advantage in fast break scoring and got 40 points from the bench compared to only 20 for the Lakers' reserves.

Defensively, Ferris State limited RU to 43.3% shooting and the Lakers made only five-of-19 (26.3%) long range tries along with nine-of-11 (81.8%) free throws.

Roosevelt was paced by Forte Prater with a game-high 24 points. Kennedy Brown added 12 points off the bench while Fred Robinson IV scored 11 points. The Lakers fell to 6-14 overall and 3-9 in the GLIAC in their second loss to FSU this campaign.

The Bulldogs will visit Davenport on Thursday (Feb. 6) night for a 7:30 p.m. (ET) league matchup in Caledonia. FSU then takes on rival Grand Valley State on Saturday (Feb. 8) starting at 3 p.m. (ET) in Allendale.