MOUNT PLEASANT – Ferris State University knew it was in for an uphill battle going against Division I Central Michigan University on Monday evening in the Rose Center on the CMU campus.
Sunday evening, the Bulldogs were on the road in Romeoville, Ill. to take on a very good Lewis University squad to open the season (a 65-60 loss). Ferris was already bothered by an injury that had sidelined starting point guard Dontae Molden. The Bulldogs got more bad news as its top shooter, senior guard Austin Randel, was going to be inactive for the CMU game with an injury suffered against Lewis.
In spite of the obstacles, Ferris battled all evening long against Central before it wore down late in the second half. CMU remained patient, even as the Bulldogs led for significant chunks of the game, and made its move later in the second half. The strong guard play of Robbie Harman (18 points and five assists) and Jordan Bitzer (11 points and four assists), combined with a significant size edge in the paint, ultimately wore a weary Ferris team down as the Chippewas would go on to win by a score of 82-69.
Sunday evening, the Bulldogs were on the road in Romeoville, Ill. to take on a very good Lewis University squad to open the season (a 65-60 loss). Ferris was already bothered by an injury that had sidelined starting point guard Dontae Molden. The Bulldogs got more bad news as its top shooter, senior guard Austin Randel, was going to be inactive for the CMU game with an injury suffered against Lewis.
In spite of the obstacles, Ferris battled all evening long against Central before it wore down late in the second half. CMU remained patient, even as the Bulldogs led for significant chunks of the game, and made its move later in the second half. The strong guard play of Robbie Harman (18 points and five assists) and Jordan Bitzer (11 points and four assists), combined with a significant size edge in the paint, ultimately wore a weary Ferris team down as the Chippewas would go on to win by a score of 82-69.
Ferris got off to a hot start, and at one point led 15-6, before CMU rallied.
"I think they came out a little flat. It's one of those things where we're probably a little more pumped up to play a Division I school and it takes them a little while to get going. You see that a lot in these types of games," Ferris head coach Bill Sall said of his team's fast start. "Ernie (Zeigler, Central's head coach) through the zone at us and we really, really struggled for a long time. I don't think we ever really attacked it good the whole night."
Central’s defensive focus was clearly on Justin Keenan as Zeigler spoke glowingly of Keenan in an article in the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun. The fact that he spoke glowingly of Keenan was indicative of the defensive emphasis the Chippewas had on the 6-foot-6 FSU center. The Bulldogs got some good production from Keenan (15 points), but also had solid games from Jon Yeazel (13 points and 15 rebounds), a former CMU player, and guard Darien Gay, who was on fire for stretches of the game with his perimeter shooting and finished with 26 points to lead the Bulldogs (he hit 8-of-9 3-pointers).
Both teams shot it decently at 47 percent each, but Ferris had 23 turnovers vs. 15 for the Chippewas.
The Bulldogs are 0-2 on the season, but now must erase the memories of these first two games and realize it’s still a long college basketball season.
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