BLOG 18: Sall, Bulldogs seek a big bounce-back effort in Ohio

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State University’s Dontae Molden (right) handles the ball as he is pressured defensively by fellow Bulldog Austin Randel (left) during a practice session (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – The start to the season has been a bit of a rough one for the Ferris State University men’s basketball team – albeit against strong competition.

Monday night, at archrival Grand Valley State University, the Bulldogs experienced another bit of adversity in a 72-62 loss to the ninth-ranked Division II team in the country. The Bulldogs trailed by one, 33-32, at the end of the first half. But, in the second half, Ferris ran into some basketball turbulence as the Lakers turned it up at the defensive end and used red-hot shooting from senior forward Pete Trammell (28 points) to escape with a victory.

Now, however, the Bulldogs have to regroup and put behind them the disappointment of that loss to the Lakers in Allendale – a loss that spoiled a career-high 22 points scored by junior guard Josh Young. On the horizon are two more Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games as the Bulldogs are in the midst of the grind (22 league games this season). Games two and three of the 22 are Thursday (7:30 p.m.), at Ashland, and Saturday (3 p.m.), at Tiffin, down in Ohio.

“I told the guys after the game that this is going to be a season of highs and lows, but that the highs can’t be too high and the lows can’t be too low if you’re going to make it through and be successful,” Ferris head coach Bill Sall said. “It’s a long season and we have to get right back at it.”

A 1-3 start (0-1 in the GLIAC) has been tough to handle for the Bulldogs. It has been even more challenging with an early-season schedule that has been less than kind to Ferris beginning with three straight league games on the road.

“It’s a tough start to the season, but we have to work our way through it,” he said. “We still have a lot of basketball left to be played and we have to get back to work on Thursday (against the Eagles)."

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com