GLIAC TOURNEY CHAMPIONS! Ferris State Beats GVSU To Win League Tourney Title!

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad captured the program's sixth all-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship on Sunday (March 10), beating achrival Grand Valley State 87-76 in the league tournament title game at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.

FSU stormed back from an 11-point halftime deficit, scoring 57 points in the second to notch its 25th win of the season and move on to the NCAA Tournament.

Junior guard Ethan Erickson paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 20 points while senior big man Vejas Grazulis totaled 16 points back in his hometown in another stellar GLIAC Tournament performance. FSU also got 15 points from senior Amari Lee and all 10 Bulldog players who saw action scored in the game.

The Bulldogs responded from a halftime deficit for the third consecutive game in the conference tournament and shot 65.6% from the floor over the final 20 minutes after being limited to only 36% shooting in the initial half. Defensively, Ferris State held GVSU to only 40% shooting in the final period while beating the Lakers for the second time in three tries this campaign.

Ferris State finished with a 35-32 rebounding advantage over the Lakers and outscored GVSU 40-38 inside the paint. The Bulldogs also got 56 points from their bench to only 19 for the Lakers' reserves.

Overall, the Bulldogs shot at a 52.6% clip for the afternoon and made seven-of-23 (30.4%) three's along with 20-of-27 (74.1%) free throws. The Lakers finished 44.6% from the floor and went only three-of-15 (20.0%) from beyond the three-point line along with 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the charity stripe.

Grand Valley State got 25 points from Britain Harris along with 12 by Marius Grazulis and 11 from Mason Docks as its season came to a close. The Lakers led by as many as 14 points in the first half after a quick start and held the lead for nearly 29 minutes overall.

Ferris State will await the NCAA Division II Selection Show late Sunday night at 11 p.m. (ET) at NCAA.com to find out where the Bulldogs will head for the NCAA D2 Midwest Regional, which takes place March 16-19 at a campus site.

The Bulldogs were appearing in the GLIAC Championship game for the ninth time in program history and first time since winning four-straight conference crowns from 2015-18.

Ferris State's Vejas Grazulis was chosen as the GLIAC Tournament Most Valuable Player while Amari Lee earned all-tournament team accolades for the Bulldogs.