BLOG 40: Ferris men must bounce back on the hardwood

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris men’s basketball player Josh Young (24) fires a long jump shot over a defender during a home game earlier this season in Jim Wink Arena (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – Last weekend, Ferris knew it was facing some strong competition with road trips to Hillsdale and top-ranked Findlay.

The Bulldogs struggled in the two games and fell 79-66 to the Chargers and then 85-62 to the Oilers before a packed arena in Ohio. Ferris now is 11-10 overall and 9-7 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings as league teams battle to solidify their positions for spots in the playoffs.

This weekend, the Bulldogs are hosting Michigan Tech (Thursday) and Northern Michigan (Saturday). While Ferris has road wins over both the Huskies and Wildcats, from a few weeks back, that guarantees nothing heading into this week’s rematches. Ferris has to defend its home court and win back the two games it lost to Hillsdale and Findlay last weekend.

It will not be easy to get those wins back this week as both Tech and Northern are well-coached teams led by men who have a lot of experience and have enjoyed a lot of success with those programs. The Huskies and Wildcats both have the playoffs to play for as well. In the U.P., when Ferris swept the two teams earlier this season, the Bulldogs had good shooting from perimeter guys like Darien Gay, Matt DeHart and Austin Randel at times to complement the inside consistency of Justin Keenan.

The standings are tight. Ferris leads 8-8 Michigan Tech by just one game in the North Division. The Bulldogs are tied with Hillsdale (at 9-7). But, Northwood and Ashland are two games back (which means they could make up a lot of ground this weekend). Wayne State and Northern are just three games back at 6-10.

Any way you slice it this is a big weekend for the Bulldog men to not only stay in the top eight but earn prime positioning.

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