FSU Basketball At A Glance: The Ferris State University men’s basketball team will square off against Lake Superior State Friday, Dec. 16, in a 7:30 p.m. (EST) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) encounter at LSSU’s Bud Cooper Gymnasium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. The contest will be the second game of a women’s and men’s league doubleheader. The women’s game starts at 5:30 p.m. (EST).

Media Coverage: Friday’s game will be carried live locally by News Talk 1460 AM (WBRN). Rob Bentley will handle the play-by-play duties for Saturday’s coverage. No Ferris webcast will be available due to limited staff on campus over the holiday break.

GLIAC/GLVC Challenge: Ferris will next take part in the GLIAC/Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Challenge Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 20-21, in Indianapolis, Ind. FSU will square off against regional power Southern Indiana Tuesday (Dec. 20) and then battle host Indianapolis Wednesday (Dec. 21). Both games tipoff at 7:30 p.m. (EST). Ferris defeated both teams last season in the FSU Lions Club Holiday Classic (12/20-21) and then posted victories over both in the NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional Tournament (3/12-15) at Findlay, Ohio. GLIAC member Wayne State will also take part in the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge.

FSU Wins Thursday Rivalry Clash: Ferris outscored West Michigan archrival Grand Valley State 21-6 over the final 7:45 of the contest en route to a 79-63 victory over the nationally-ranked Lakers last Thursday (Dec. 8) evening in FSU's Jim Wink Arena at Big Rapids, Mich. The Bulldogs captured the battle of unbeaten teams in GLIAC play before a Wink Arena record crowd of 1,710 fans in attendance. GVSU entered the game ranked 19th in last week's (Dec. 5) National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II National Poll. Junior forward Michael Daniels (Detroit/Murray-Wright) paced Ferris with a team-high 15 points. Senior guard Dennis Springs (Toledo, Ohio/Scott) added 14 points and eight assists while freshman guard Jessie York (Muskegon Heights) also tallied 14 points.

Ferris Falls At Toledo: Ferris lost a 67-55 non-conference decision last Saturday (Dec. 10) to the NCAA Division I Toledo Rockets in UT's Savage Hall at Toledo, Ohio. The Rockets jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and then outscored FSU 32-30 in the final half to notch the victory. Ferris was able to cut the Toledo lead down to four points on two different occasions in the final half but couldn't get any closer. Junior forward Terrance Shaw (Saginaw/Bridgeport) led the Bulldogs with a game-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Dennis Springs netted 13 points along with seven assists in his return to his hometown while senior guard Antwuan Holt (Okemos) chipped in 13 points. The Rockets forced 22 Bulldog turnovers, but also had 18 miscues of their own. Ferris shot 46.0% (23-50) from the floor, but also totaled 19 fouls compared to UT's six fouls for the ballgame. FSU was only seven-of-23 (30.4%) from three-point range for the contest.

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 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) 2004-05 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.

Preseason Ranked: Ferris State was ranked 18th overall in the 2005-06 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Preseason Top 25 poll. GLIAC member Findlay was seventh in the poll with regional foe Southern Indiana listed ninth. League members Grand Valley State, Gannon and Ashland were listed in the others receiving votes category. FSU was not ranked but did receive votes in this week’s (Dec. 13) regular-season poll.

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. Including his stint as interim coach, Sall has a current 59-47 (.557) career mark. He is 54-39 (.581) overall since being appointed head coach prior to the 2002-03 campaign.

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 921-846 (.521) 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 captured a league-record four consecutive GLIAC titles from 1986-90.

Things Have Changed: 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 54-39 (.581) 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.

Jim Wink Arena: The Bulldogs have posted an impressive 30-8 (.789) overall record at Jim Wink Arena in Bill Sall’s head coaching era at FSU. Ferris, which holds an all-time mark of 38-37 (.507) to date in the seven year old facility, registered a school-best 15-1 (.938) overall record at home during the 2004-05 campaign. FSU is 25-31 (.446) to date in league play at Wink Arena. The 2,400-seat facility replaced Old Jim Wink Arena, which was converted into the current Student Recreation Center after the 1997-98 season.

On The Road: Ferris is 378-315 (.545) overall since 1980-81 and sports a 175-217 (.446) record in road/neutral site contests during that span. The Bulldogs were 7-5 (.583) on the road in 2004-05.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Homecoming For Springs: Ferris’ Dennis Springs tallied 13 points and seven assists in his return to his hometown of Toledo for last Saturday’s game. A two-time GLIAC North Division Second Team honoree, Springs prepped at Toledo’s Scott High School. He averaged 15.5 points per game as a senior while earning the Toledo Blade’s 2001 Player of the Year honor under head coach Earl Morris. Springs ranks as Ferris’ all-time assists leader (588).

Bulldog Bites: Last Thursday’s attendance of 1,710 versus Grand Valley State was the largest crowd in Wink Arena history. The top five crowds in the facility have all came in the last three seasons, including the previous top draw of 1,413 last season (11/16/04) against Cornerstone ...... Seven of FSU’s eight outings this year have been decided by more than 10 points ....... FSU has presently won 24 of its last 26 home games dating back to the 2003-04 campaign .......... Dennis Springs has scored 10 points or more in all eight outings this season while Jessie York has netted six double-figure scoring performances ...... Last Saturday’s attendance of 3,646 at Toledo represented the largest crowd the Bulldogs have played in front of during the Bill Sall head coaching era at Ferris State ..... Ferris’ current 3-0 league start is the program’s best since winning five-straight to open the 1989-90 campaign. FSU posted a perfect 16-0 league record in 1988-89.

Tough Slate: The Bulldogs will face two of the nation’s top seven ranked teams in the next two weeks according to this week’s (Dec. 13) NABC Division II Top 25 Poll. FSU is slated to face seventh-ranked Southern Indiana at the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge (Dec. 20) and will also battle top-ranked Montevallo (Ala.) in the Florida Gulf Coast Holiday Classic (Dec. 30). Ferris already took on the current number six team Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) in its season opener (Nov. 15).

GLIAC Player Of The Week: Ferris State claimed the GLIAC North Division Player of the Week Award for the third time this season as Terrance Shaw was recognized as this week's (Dec. 12) selection in an announcement made by the league office. The honor, which has been awarded only four times to date this campaign, previously went twice to FSU’s Dennis Springs on both Nov. 22 and Dec. 5. Shaw led the Bulldogs in two games last week as he averaged 13 points, 8.5 rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot while shooting 50% (10-20) from the floor and 42.9% (3-7) from three-point range in the stretch.

Former Bulldogs Sign Pro Contracts: Former Ferris State guards Carlton and Corey Epps (Benton Harbor) recently signed professional contracts with the International Basketball League's (IBL) expansion Holland (Mich.) Blast. The 6-2 twins are among the franchise's first additions for the league's 2006 season. The IBL, which played its inaugural season in the spring and summer of 2005, is the newest professional basketball league designed around the concept of a faster, more skilled game. The duo concluded their four-year careers by guiding the Bulldog men's basketball team to a runner-up finish in the 2004-05 NCAA-II Great Lakes Regional. The Blast will be coached by Mike Ahrens and play their home games in the Holland Civic Center. The expansion team will join the Grand Rapids Flight as members of the 29-team league. Former Ferris State center Adam Anderson played for the Flight in the IBL's initial season last spring and summer.

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 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.

A Look At Friday's Opponent:

Lake Superior State: The Bulldogs maintain a 69-42 lead entering this Friday’s 112th series meeting. Ferris has claimed the last five meetings and posted a 94-89 win in the most recent tilt (2/10/05) at Big Rapids, Mich. Lake Superior State is presently 0-7 overall and 0-3 in league play after last Saturday’s (Dec. 10) 84-73 GLIAC loss at Northwood. The Lakers, who are coached by third-year head coach Mike Fitzner, were 9-18 overall during the 2004-05 campaign and compiled a seventh-place 5-13 GLIAC North Division record. LSSU, which is led in scoring by freshman guard Tim VanOudheusden (14.0 ppg), was picked to finish seventh in the 2005-06 GLIAC North Division Preseason Coaches Poll. FSU coach Bill Sall currently is 5-1 all-time versus LSSU. FSU swept last season’s two matchups as the Bulldogs also recorded an 81-70 triumph (12/9/04) at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.