BIG RAPIDS - Few people will be surprised Ferris State University beat Grand Valley State University in men's basketball, but the margin of victory is bound to open a few eyes.
The Bulldogs were dominant from start to finish, Monday evening, and rolled to an impressive 67-41 victory over the visiting Lakers before a crowd of 1,280 in Jim Wink Arena as the two West Michigan rivals battled on the hardwood in both team's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener.
Defensively, Ferris (1-3, 1-0) was smothering as it held Grand Valley to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Lakers (2-2, 0-1) struggled shooting what Ferris offered: the perimeter shot. GVSU was just 4-of-21 from outside the 3-point arc and when it got to the free throw line it shot just 3-of-11 as a team. The numbers don't lie: 33.3 percent field goal shooting, 19 percent 3-point shooting and 27.3 percent free throw shooting. That will not win you too many games and it definitely won't win many games on the road. Justin Ringler, a Reed City native, didn't get much help as he ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The next highest Laker scorer had six points (Toreau Brown and Breland Hogan).
"The first half we did a tremendous job plugging the paint from all sides from elbow, to block to the help side. We really did a nice job," said Ferris head coach Bill Sall. "They missed some shots which was great for us. We struggled a little rebounding, but there were a lot of long shots we didn't get to and they did come up with in the game. But, because of our defense, we got in a flow getting up and down the floor."
Ferris was strong, however, as it shot 51.2 percent from the floor. Justin Keenan led the Bulldogs with 15 points even though he only made 1-of-7 field goals. He made up for that by wearing out a path to the free throw line (knocking down 13-of-18). Darien Gay reached double digits as he scored 13 points. Austin Randel and Josh Young each added eight points, Ferris had six points apiece from Jon Yeazel and Matt DeHart, five points from Daniel Sutherlin (including a spectacular alley-oop dunk) and one point from Jim Boylan.
"Our starting five played hard and when we substituted we never lost any momentum," Sall said. "We kept the effort going."
Ferris found the shooting far better as it hit 51.2 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point arc and 69.2 from the free throw line.
"Everybody shares the ball and it makes a real difference and you get some flow and rhythm and confidence happens so that's a good thing," Sall said.
It was a thoroughly dominating performance by the Bulldogs who denied Grand Valley significant access to the paint, forced outside shots and contested most of the shots the Lakers did get near the basket.
Look for additional coverage of the Ferris-Grand Valley game Tuesday on this blog.
The Bulldogs were dominant from start to finish, Monday evening, and rolled to an impressive 67-41 victory over the visiting Lakers before a crowd of 1,280 in Jim Wink Arena as the two West Michigan rivals battled on the hardwood in both team's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener.
Defensively, Ferris (1-3, 1-0) was smothering as it held Grand Valley to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Lakers (2-2, 0-1) struggled shooting what Ferris offered: the perimeter shot. GVSU was just 4-of-21 from outside the 3-point arc and when it got to the free throw line it shot just 3-of-11 as a team. The numbers don't lie: 33.3 percent field goal shooting, 19 percent 3-point shooting and 27.3 percent free throw shooting. That will not win you too many games and it definitely won't win many games on the road. Justin Ringler, a Reed City native, didn't get much help as he ended with 15 points and 14 rebounds. The next highest Laker scorer had six points (Toreau Brown and Breland Hogan).
"The first half we did a tremendous job plugging the paint from all sides from elbow, to block to the help side. We really did a nice job," said Ferris head coach Bill Sall. "They missed some shots which was great for us. We struggled a little rebounding, but there were a lot of long shots we didn't get to and they did come up with in the game. But, because of our defense, we got in a flow getting up and down the floor."
Ferris was strong, however, as it shot 51.2 percent from the floor. Justin Keenan led the Bulldogs with 15 points even though he only made 1-of-7 field goals. He made up for that by wearing out a path to the free throw line (knocking down 13-of-18). Darien Gay reached double digits as he scored 13 points. Austin Randel and Josh Young each added eight points, Ferris had six points apiece from Jon Yeazel and Matt DeHart, five points from Daniel Sutherlin (including a spectacular alley-oop dunk) and one point from Jim Boylan.
"Our starting five played hard and when we substituted we never lost any momentum," Sall said. "We kept the effort going."
Ferris found the shooting far better as it hit 51.2 percent from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point arc and 69.2 from the free throw line.
"Everybody shares the ball and it makes a real difference and you get some flow and rhythm and confidence happens so that's a good thing," Sall said.
It was a thoroughly dominating performance by the Bulldogs who denied Grand Valley significant access to the paint, forced outside shots and contested most of the shots the Lakers did get near the basket.
Look for additional coverage of the Ferris-Grand Valley game Tuesday on this blog.
Photo by Ed Hyde
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