Jan. 29, 2011

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Grand Rapids, Mich. - The first men's game of the 131 Showdown between #15 Grand Valley State and Ferris State was all it was hyped up to be, as the Bulldogs outlasted GVSU in overtime by a 79-72 final score on Saturday night (Jan. 29). Ferris State tied the score just before the buzzer in regulation and the Bulldogs outscored Grand Valley State 12-5 in the extra session in a pivotal matchup of the top two teams in the GLIAC North Division. The game was tied 12 different times and there were 17 lead changes in this wild battle in front of 5,863 fans at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.

With the loss, GVSU falls to 15-4 on the year and 10-2 in GLIAC play, while Ferris State improves to 14-5 overally and also 10-2 in the league. It was quite a back-and-forth contest, as the second half and overtime was quite an enjoyable 25 minutes of play. Getting to the final few minutes was exciting, but the end of the game was typical of this great rivalry.

After trailing by as many as nine points in the second half, Grand Valley State rallied back and led by five points in the final stanza. The game was tied at 64-64 with 1:24 left when FSU's All-American Justin Keenan knotted the score with a jumper. With 26 seconds remaining, he split a pair of free throws, giving the Bulldogs a 65-64 advantage. On GVSU's ensuing possession, Breland Hogan fed Nick Carreri, who was driving along the baseline, and Carreri converted the layup and was fouled with nine seconds left. Carreri then banked in the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play that put the Lakers on top, 67-65.

Ferris State came down the court and Keenan missed a baseline jumper that was rebounded and tipped in mid-air by Darien Gay. His attempt was also off target and Dontae Molden rebounded Gay's missed tip-in with a mid-air tip of his own. Molden's follow-up banked off the glass and in with 0.7 seconds to play, sending the game to overtime tied at 67-67.

Gay scored five straight points to start the extra session, draining a three-pointer and scoring on a jumper. Keenan again split a pair of free throws, moving the FSU lead to 73-67 with 2:45 left. GVSU responded with a three-pointer from James Thomas and Tony Peters then split two free throws to make the score 73-71 with less than two minutes left. The Lakers, however, could not get closer than three points, as their last points came on a free throw from Hogan with 1:21 left, making the score 75-72. FSU connected on four freebies in the final 47 seconds to close off the wild victory.

While Ferris State won despite shooting just 35.8 percent from the field, the Bulldogs did make 11 three-pointers (out of 31 attempts). FSU struggled at the line, making 20-of-33 attempts for a 60.6 percentage. Grand Valley State, on the other hand, shot 46.0 percent from the field and 7-of-19 from beyond the arc. The Lakers also struggled from the charity stripe and were just 19-of-29 from the line.

GVSU owned a 26-7 bench point advantage and a slight 24-22 edge in points in the paint. The Bulldogs led 14-5 in points off turnovers and 14-7 in second chance points. Ferris State also dominated the glass with a 49-34 rebounding advantage, including an incredible 22-5 edge on the offensive glass. The 49 rebounds are 11 more than Grand Valley State had given up in a game all season (38 vs. New Mexico Highlands on Dec. 30 was the previous high).

There were five ties and 11 lead changes in the first half, which saw GVSU lead by as many as six points at 19-13 after a pair of free throws from Peters. Ferris State bouced back to tie the score and take a two-point lead at halftime (28-26) after a pair of freebies from Kenny Brown.

Ferris State pushed out to a nine-point advantage after the teams played their own version of a three-point contest and combined for five trifectas in a 1:28 span of the second half. FSU made three of those triples with Matt DeHart burying two and Gay making one, while Thomas knocked down a pair of three-pointers for the Lakers. GVSU rallied back to score seven straight points, getting five from Ringler and a layup from Wes Trammell, knotting the score at 44-44 at the 12:13 mark.

Grand Valley State then moved ahead by five points on a Ringler three-pointer and a layup from Carreri, making the scoreboard read 51-46 with 10:11 left in the game. FSU would tie the score three more times before GVSU's Asauhn Tatum converted a tough layup and sank two free throws to push out to a 63-59 lead with 2:48 to play. The Bulldogs would score five of the next six points, tying the game at 64-64, and setting the stage for a wild few minutes of action.

Ringler led the Lakers with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds and two assists. Thomas drained 5-of-10 three-pointers and scored 18 points with five rebounds in 38 minutes of play. Carreri was the third GVSU player in double figures, scoring 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 at the line. He added four rebounds.

Peters totaled eight points and three boards, while Tatum supplied seven points, four rebounds, and three blocks. Trammell notched seven points and three rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

Ferris State was led by Keenan's game-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds. He was 8-of-17 from the field and struggled at the line by making just 8-of-16 attempts. DeHart made 6-of-12 three-pointers and scored 21 points, while Gay tallied 12 points and four assists.

The Lakers head out for a four-game road stretch, starting next Thursday (Feb. 3) with a 6:00 GLIAC contest at Saginaw Valley State. GVSU is 4-2 on the road this season.