Ferris St. Gets Red Hot | Findlay Falls on the Road
Box Score
Postgame Interview with Head Coach Charlie Ernst
Big Rapids, Mich. – The University of Findlay men's basketball team their penultimate game of the 2022 calendar year with a trip north to take on a familiar foe, the Ferris State University Bulldogs, on Monday, Dec. 19. Findlay trailed by just one at the half, but Ferris St. got hot in the second, ultimately going on to a 101-85 victory. With the loss the Oilers fall to 7-5 on the year while the Bulldogs improve to 8-4.
This was the 11th meeting between the two programs since the 2015-16 season. Four of those games have come in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional including one in the Sweet Sixteen. Of those previous ten matchups, five had been decided by six points or less. In the first half of Monday's contest, it looked as though this would be just one more in a long line of competitive matchups between the two proud programs.
For the first 15 minutes, neither team led by more than four points as the game went back-and-forth. With 6:17 to play in the first half, a layup by Findlay's Deven Stover capped a short 5-0 run, giving the Oilers the largest lead of the half at 36-30. That would be Findlay's biggest lead of the game.
Ferris State would hit a triple with 32 seconds to play, giving the home team a 45-44 lead heading into the locker room.
In the first half, both teams shot it well with Findlay making 58.6% of their attempts and Ferris making 53.6%. What helped the Bulldogs was their rebounding and free-throw shooting as they grabbed five more boards than the Oilers and hit 9-of-11 free-throws compared to Findlay which made just 4-of-7.
The second half was all Bulldogs as the home squad began to make it rain from three-point range. Ferris State could not miss, eventually building a comfortable lead over Findlay, one they would maintain to the final buzzer.
Making shots the way Ferris State did down the stretch would make it a challenge for just about any team in the country. The Bulldogs made good on 69.2% of their shots in the second half including a ridiculous 9-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Ferris States leading scorer, Ethan Erickson, came off the bench and would finish the game with 25 points. 20 of those came in the second half on the strength of a 6-of-6 effort from distance.
As a team, Findlay shot 31-of-57 (54.4%) from the floor and 8-of-24 (33.3%) from deep while the Bulldogs made 33-of-54 (61.1%) and 15-of-25 (60.0%) from three-point range. In the last two games, FSU has now made 31 of their 54 attempts from deep, making those shots at a rate of 57%.
The Bulldogs also had a big advantage on the glass, mostly because offensively, they were making shots. FSU grabbed 32 rebounds to just 21 for the Oilers.
Senior Nathan Bruns led Findlay with 22 points and also had a team-high six assists. He added four rebounds to Monday's stat line, as well.
Deven Stover scored 19 while senior Joey Edmonds had 15 and freshman Max Roth had 11. Stover had three rebounds while Edmonds and Roth had a pair of assists. Senior Eisley Swaine scored five points, had three assists, and a team-high three steals.
Findlay wraps up 2022 with a non-conference game in Croy Gymnasium on Thursday, Dec. 29. That game against Ohio Christian will tip off at 7:00 pm.