GREENVILLE – It was hardly a great shooting basketball display for either team, but Ferris State University survived Aquinas College in its first preseason quiz.
The Bulldogs and Saints went at it in a hard-fought exhibition at Greenville High School – a game in which both teams showed signs of being works in progress as Ferris earned a 66-56 win. Now that Ferris has had a chance to test itself against the Saints, the Bulldogs have had an opportunity to test themselves against a real opponent, Ferris can reflect on areas of improvement that need to be addressed during the balance of the preseason.
“A couple of good things that happened were that defensively we played pretty well, but in spurts. We created some turnovers (Aquinas had 21 turnovers). We struggled at times when we got tired,” Ferris head coach Bill Sall said. “Offensively, we were in a rush in everything we did. That is a pretty major concern, but also something that is correctable as we watch some game film and we start to look at the things that we did wrong and that we can get better at.”
Against Aquinas, Ferris discovered first hand just how hard teams have play to win college basketball games, it learned it must rebound (as a team) much better and it quite frankly has to knock down shots when opportunities present themselves. The Saints, though not as athletic, held their own on the glass as it made Ferris pay several times for not boxing out by securing offensive rebounds.
Still, Ferris had some notable solid performances led by second-year point guard Dontae Molden, who eased into more of a comfort zone as the game progressed. Austin Randel also played a solid game shooting the basketball. Darien Gay had a solid outing as well. Aquinas focused its defensive effort on Justin Keenan to limit him as much as possible. The Bulldogs must learn to feed off Keenan and make teams pay for devoting too much attention to the All-American candidate.
Off the bench, freshman Daniel Sutherlin (six points and seven rebounds) was a bright spot as the Detroit native battled hard on the boards and showed the potential to be able to finish shots in the paint as he fights to become a power forward for the Bulldogs.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball as Ferris hit 34.9 percent for the game while Aquinas hit 37.5 percent of its attempts from the floor.
Ferris was led by Keenan with 17 points, Randel added 12, Molden put up 11 and Gay also hit double digits with 12 off the bench.
Keenan led Ferris on the glass with 14 boards.
The Bulldogs travel to Division I Dayton University to take on the Flyers in an exhibition contest on Nov. 3 with tip off scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs and Saints went at it in a hard-fought exhibition at Greenville High School – a game in which both teams showed signs of being works in progress as Ferris earned a 66-56 win. Now that Ferris has had a chance to test itself against the Saints, the Bulldogs have had an opportunity to test themselves against a real opponent, Ferris can reflect on areas of improvement that need to be addressed during the balance of the preseason.
“A couple of good things that happened were that defensively we played pretty well, but in spurts. We created some turnovers (Aquinas had 21 turnovers). We struggled at times when we got tired,” Ferris head coach Bill Sall said. “Offensively, we were in a rush in everything we did. That is a pretty major concern, but also something that is correctable as we watch some game film and we start to look at the things that we did wrong and that we can get better at.”
Against Aquinas, Ferris discovered first hand just how hard teams have play to win college basketball games, it learned it must rebound (as a team) much better and it quite frankly has to knock down shots when opportunities present themselves. The Saints, though not as athletic, held their own on the glass as it made Ferris pay several times for not boxing out by securing offensive rebounds.
Still, Ferris had some notable solid performances led by second-year point guard Dontae Molden, who eased into more of a comfort zone as the game progressed. Austin Randel also played a solid game shooting the basketball. Darien Gay had a solid outing as well. Aquinas focused its defensive effort on Justin Keenan to limit him as much as possible. The Bulldogs must learn to feed off Keenan and make teams pay for devoting too much attention to the All-American candidate.
Off the bench, freshman Daniel Sutherlin (six points and seven rebounds) was a bright spot as the Detroit native battled hard on the boards and showed the potential to be able to finish shots in the paint as he fights to become a power forward for the Bulldogs.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball as Ferris hit 34.9 percent for the game while Aquinas hit 37.5 percent of its attempts from the floor.
Ferris was led by Keenan with 17 points, Randel added 12, Molden put up 11 and Gay also hit double digits with 12 off the bench.
Keenan led Ferris on the glass with 14 boards.
The Bulldogs travel to Division I Dayton University to take on the Flyers in an exhibition contest on Nov. 3 with tip off scheduled for 7 p.m.
Note: Greenville is the hometown of Bulldog men's basketball player Matt DeHart, who was in the starting lineup, got a loud ovation from the crowd and signed autographs after the contest ... the crowd was listed as 650.
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