FSU Men’s Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State men’s basketball team will host California (Pa.) in its 2005-06 home opener Saturday, Nov. 26, at FSU’s Jim Wink Arena in Big Rapids, Mich. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (EST).

Media Coverage: There will be no Ferris State radio or internet coverage available for this contest.

Ticket Information: Individual game tickets to FSU regular-season home basketball games can be obtained at the door or by calling the Bulldog Athletics Ticket Office at (231) 591-2888. Adult tickets are $7 (general admission) or $10 (reserved). Student tickets are $5. A family pass with two adult and two youth tickets can be purchased for $15. Ferris faculty/staff ticket prices are also $5. FSU students are admitted free of charge by showing their student identification card.

FSU Earns First Win: Ferris State picked up its first victory of the 2005-06 campaign Tuesday (Nov. 22) evening as the Bulldogs defeated West Michigan rival Calvin 78-64 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Four Bulldog players reached double-figure scoring in the contest. Senior guard Dennis Springs (Toledo, Ohio/Scott), junior forward Terrance Shaw (Saginaw/Bridgeport) and freshman guard Jessie York (Muskegon Heights) all notched a team-high 15 points while senior guard Antwuan Holt (Okemos) netted 11 points. FSU closed out the first half on a 20-2 run over the final 4:20 to take a 14-point halftime advantage.

FSU Falls To SIUE: Ferris suffered a 72-55 non-conference road setback last Saturday (Nov. 19) to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Ill. The Bulldogs fell behind by eight points at halftime and were outscored 40-31 in the second frame. Ferris dropped to 0-2 overall this campaign with the loss. Dennis Springs led Ferris with a game-high 22 points. He also added four steals and three assists. Jessie York contributed 10 points for Ferris while Terrance Shaw chipped in six points and a team-best seven rebounds.

Last Season: Ferris State capped off a banner 2004-05 season with a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament (March 12-15) held in Findlay, Ohio. FSU reached the regional championship game for only the third time in school history last season. The Bulldogs, who won their second-straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division Championship with a 13-5 league mark last campaign, concluded the year with a 24-7 overall record and fell one game shy of advancing to the NCAA-II Elite Eight for the second time ever. FSU's 24 victories represented the third-most wins in school history. Ferris State, which was ranked 23rd in the final (March 8) National Association of Basketball Coaches/Division II Bulletin Regular-Season National Poll, also advanced to the GLIAC Tournament for the second year in a row in 2004-05. Last season marked Ferris State's first appearance in the national rankings since the 1988-89 campaign.

Nationally-Ranked: Ferris State is ranked 18th overall in the 2005-06 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Preseason Top 25 poll. Tarleton State (Texas) earned the preseason number one ranking. GLIAC member Findlay is seventh in the poll with regional foe Southern Indiana listed ninth. League members Grand Valley State, Gannon and Ashland are listed in the others receiving votes category. The poll is conducted by the NABC Division II Congress with a member from each of the eight Division II regions included.

FSU Third In Poll: Two-time defending divisional champion Ferris State was picked to finish third in the 2005-06 GLIAC Men's Basketball Coaches Preseason North Division Poll. The Bulldogs totaled 28 points along with one first-place vote in the balloting, which was conducted by the conference's head coaches. Northern Michigan was selected as the North Division favorite as the Wildcats recorded 33 points along with four first-place votes. Findlay took the top spot in the South Division with 24 points and four first-place votes. The league's 13 head coaches voted for the division in which they play, but not allowed to vote for their own team.

Head Coach Bill Sall: A 1994 Calvin graduate, fourth-year FSU head coach Bill Sall previously held assistant coaching positions at Calvin (1992-95), Ferris State (1995-98) and Hillsdale (1998-02) prior to being named Ferris State’s 11th head coach. The Zeeland, Mich., native served as Ferris’ interim head coach for a portion of the 1995-96 campaign and led the Bulldogs to a 5-8 mark. Before joining the coaching ranks, Sall was a standout player at Calvin from 1985-90. He twice (1989-90) received second-team National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III All-America honors and led Calvin to three Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAA) championships, four NCAA-III Tournament bids and the 1990 NCAA-III Final Four. Sall has a current 55-46 (.545) career mark.

The Bulldog Tradition: The 2005-06 campaign marks the 78th season of Bulldog men’s basketball. The program began in 1925 although Ferris did not field a team from 1942-45 due to World War II. FSU has compiled a 917-845 (.520) all-time mark. The Bulldogs have won 11 GLIAC titles, made seven NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and reached the 1988 NCAA-II Elite Eight. Ferris, which captured a league-record four consecutive GLIAC titles from 1986-90, notched its 900th all-time win last season with a 110-104 overtime triumph over Indianapolis (12/21/04) in the Lions Club Holiday Classic at FSU.

Jim Wink Arena: Ferris has recorded a 35-37 (.486) overall record to date in home contests at Jim Wink Arena, including a 23-31 (.426) mark in league play. The 2,400-seat facility replaced Old Jim Wink Arena, which was converted into the current Student Recreation Center after the 1997-98 season. FSU posted a school-record 15-1 (.938) overall record at home during the 2004-05 campaign.

On The Road: Ferris is 374-314 (.544) overall since 1980-81 and sports a 174-216 (.446) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs were 7-5 (.583) on the road in 2004-05.

The Bulldog Roster: Ferris’ 2005-06 roster includes three seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen. Six of the 12 players are guards while the remaining six are frontcourt players. Eleven of the 12 players hail from Michigan with Dennis Springs the only out-of-state player on the active roster.

Springs Leads FSU: Ferris’ Dennis Springs was a second-team GLIAC North Division honoree last season. He also attained NCAA-II Great Lakes Region All-Tournament Team kudos along with GLIAC North Division All-Defensive Team honors. Springs currently ranks as the school’s all-time leader in career assists with 550 to date. He previously was both a second-team All-GLIAC North Division and GLIAC All-Defensive Team honoree during the 2003-04 campaign. Springs, who’s FSU’s leading returning scorer (12.8 ppg) from last year, also set a school single-season record with 213 assists last year.

Reversal Of Fortune: The Bulldogs had posted only a 21-82 (.204) mark in the four seasons prior to current head coach Bill Sall's arrival, but have since went 50-38 (.568) and claimed back-to-back divisional titles along with making a regional finals appearance last campaign. FSU won only four games (4-22) the year before Sall arrived in 2001-02.

GLIAC Games On The Air: All eighteen of FSU’s 2005-06 league games will be carried live by local radio station WBRN (News Talk 1460 AM). Selected contests can also be accessed live via the internet by clicking on the Bulldog Athletics Webcasts icon at www.ferris.edu/sports. Jason DaDay will handle play-by-play duties for the conference home games while Ferris State Assistant Athletics Communications Director Rob Bentley will be in front of the microphone for all GLIAC road contests.

Live Stats: “Live Stats” of all 2005-06 Ferris State home basketball games will be provided in progress via the internet. Visit www.ferris.edu/sports and click on the “Live Stats” icon to access the “Live Stats” feature.

On The Internet: Ferris State University Athletics’ official web site can be found at www.ferris.edu/sports. The site features information on all of FSU’s varsity athletics programs including rosters, statistics, yearbooks and more.

The Team Captains: FSU’s three seniors will serve as the squad’s team captains this campaign. They include Dennis Springs, Antwuan Holt and forward Jeffery Shanahan (Flint/Kearsley). Both Springs and Shanahan are returning three-year letterwinners while Holt played his first two collegiate seasons at GLIAC-member Northern Michigan before his transfer to FSU prior to last season.

Ferris State Notes: Ferris’ Dennis Springs became the 24th player in school history to surpass the 1,000 career points mark in the season opener at Saint Joseph’s (Nov. 15) .......... The Bulldogs registered their first-ever win in the Calvin Fieldhouse against the Knights in Tuesday’s game. Calvin had won the 11 previous meetings in the facility entering the meeting ....... Tuesday’s win was only Ferris’ 17th all-time victory over the Knights in 83 series’ meetings ...... Jeffery Shanahan totaled a personal career-high tying 14 boards and junior forward Michael Daniels (Detroit/Murray-Wright) tied a career-best with 10 rebounds at Calvin.

Bulldog Bites: Ferris State has posted 37 winning campaigns and 42 non-losing seasons in its previous 77 seasons ............ FSU will play 10 home games this campaign ......... Ferris State’s biggest graduation loss was last year’s leading scorer and a first-team all-region honoree in Carlton Epps (19.4 ppg) ............... Ferris State’s 2005-06 GLIAC opener is set for Thursday, Dec. 1, versus Northwood beginning at 8 p.m. (EST) in Jim Wink Arena.

Sall Wins Again: Tuesday's triumph gave Ferris State fourth-year head coach Bill Sall his third career victory versus the Knights. Sall, who improved his career coaching record to 3-2 overall against the Knights, formerly was a standout player at Calvin from 1985-90. He has been involved in 13 Calvin-Ferris meetings while emerging victorious 10 times. Sall led the Knights to three victories as a player (1987-90) and recorded a 2-1 mark as a Calvin assistant coach (1992-95) against the Bulldogs. He helped guide FSU to a 2-1 ledger during his initial Bulldog coaching stint from 1995-98 and is currently 3-1 versus the Knights since returning as Ferris’ head coach.

GLIAC Player Of The Week: Dennis Springs was chosen as this week’s (Nov. 22) GLIAC North Division Player of the Week for his performance in FSU’s initial two outings this campaign prior to Tuesday’s victory. Springs averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 assists and three steals in the Bulldogs’ two non-league road contests to open the season at Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville last week. The 5-6 Springs became the 24th player in school history to notch 1,000 career points as he had a game-high 21 points, six assists and two steals at Saint Joseph’s last Tuesday (Nov. 15) in the season opener. He then added a game-best 22 points along with four steals and three assists Saturday (Nov. 19) at SIU-Edwardsville.

Players To Watch: FSU’s Dennis Springs and Terrance Shaw were chosen among the top 10 West Michigan collegiate players to watch this year by the Grand Rapids Press in the Nov. 15 edition. Springs was picked second overall behind Grand Valley State sophomore center Callistus Eziukwu while Shaw was the seventh player listed. GVSU had three selections, Ferris and Hope College both had two honorees while Aquinas, Calvin and Cornerstone each had one player on the top 10 list.

Possible Breakthrough Team: Ferris State was listed as a possible breakthrough squad in the 2005-06 Street & Smith's College Basketball Magazine Division II Preview, which recently hit news stands. The annual list of teams, which was compiled by Chuck Mistovich of the Basketball Times, included a preseason top 10 list and 30 additional teams receiving possible breakthrough recognition. The Bulldogs were one of three league institutions featured in the additional category along with defending GLIAC South Division champion Findlay and archrival Grand Valley State. Tarleton State (Texas) was chosen as the publication's preseason number one team with Western Washington picked second and Virginia Union chosen third overall. Besides Findlay and GVSU, three other teams on FSU's 2005-06 schedule were also included in the magazine. Montevallo (Ala.) was selected as the number six overall pick while Saint Joseph's (Ind.) and Southern Indiana were each named to the possible breakthrough category.

A Look At Saturday's Opponent:

California (Pa.): Ferris and California (Pa.) will meet for the second time Saturday in Big Rapids, Mich. FSU posted a 75-73 in the first-ever series’ meeting last season (11/27/04) at California, Pa. The Vulcans, who are currently 2-0 overall, defeated Geneva at home Tuesday (Nov. 22) by a score of 82-56. CUP also posted a 92-44 season-opening home win over Penn State-McKeesport last Wednesday (Nov. 16). The Vulcans posted a 14-13 overall record and were sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division last year with a 4-8 league mark. CUP previously compiled a 23-7 overall record in 2003-04. California is guided by 10th-year head coach Bill Brown.