Ferris State Claims GLIAC Quarterfinal Win Over Wayne State; Will Next Face LSSU On Saturday In Houghton

Postgame Highlights 
Postgame Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad claimed a hard-fought 77-65 win over visiting Wayne State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday (March 5) evening, advancing to the league semifinals with the victory.

The third-seeded Bulldogs trailed by three at halftime, but outscored WSU 54-39 in the second half to earn the victory. The Warriors, who were seeded sixth, had beat the Bulldogs in Detroit in the final week of the regular season last Thursday.

With the win, the Bulldogs will advance to the GLiAC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday (March 8) in Houghton and face second-seeded Lake Superior State starting at 2:30 p.m. (ET).

In Wednesday's win, the Bulldogs turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half, but had only two miscues in the second half of play. In addition, after shooting 29.6% from the floor in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 61.3% in the second period of play.

Overall, Ferris State shot 46.6% from the floor for the game and made seven-of-19 (36.8%) three's to go with a 16-of-18 (88.9%) effort at the free throw stripe.

Four FSU players reached double-digits in the contest, including three seniors. Guard Ethan Erickson tallied 14 points while senior forward Reece Hazelton notched 12 points and eight rebounds. The Bulldogs also got 10 points, nine boards, four assists and four blocks from senior Jimmy Scholler along with 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes of work by junior Nathan Claerbaut.

Along with the four in double-figures, the Bulldogs' Tyler Hamilton scored nine points as did junior Mykel Bingham, who also had seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Freshman Jaxson Whitaker added seven points and five boards.

The Bulldogs owned a 44-29 rebounding margin and finished with 12 turnovers compared to only four for the Warriors. FSU also had 11 blocked shots and four steals.

Defensively, Ferris State held Wayne State to 32.3% shooting and the Warriors went seven-of-22 (31.8%) from long range. They did make 18-of-21 (85.7%) free throws.

The loss spoiled a big game for WSU's Rob Lee, Jr., who finished with a game-high 31 points as the Warriors closed the year with a 15-14 mark. Carmelo Harris scored 14 points, all of which came in the second half.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 25-7 overall and kept their NCAA Tournament hopes intact after being ranked fourth in this week's Midwest Regional Rankings entering the game.

The Bulldogs will face Lake Superior State on Saturday at Michigan Tech's Student Development Complex Gymnasium in Houghton in the second semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. (ET). Host and top-seeded Michigan Tech will take on fourth-seeded Northern Michigan in the first semifinal at 12 p.m. (ET). The championship game is set for Sunday (March 9) at 2 p.m. (ET).

Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for additional postseason information as it becomes available.