Ethan Erickson's Game-Winner Lifts #12 Ferris State To Road Triumph At Michigan Tech

Postgame Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball team, which is ranked 12th nationally, battled back from an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes and came away with an exciting 69-68 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) road win on Thursday (Jan. 11) evening at Michigan Tech, beating the Huskies on Ethan Erickson's game-winning three with just over five seconds to play.

The Bulldogs claimed their seventh consecutive victory and moved to 13-2 overall and 3-1 in the GLIAC with the triumph inside the SDC Gymnasium in Houghton.

FSU fought thru foul trouble most of the evening and made only four-of-18 (22.2%) three's, but one of the four makes came from Erickson in the closing seconds. Erickson scored the Bulldogs' final six points of the contest, first scoring a three-point play the old fashioned way with less than a minute to go to pull Ferris State back with two. The Bulldogs then came up with a big defensive stop on MTU's final offensive possession and raced the ball up the floor before calling timeout with under eight seconds left.

Following the timeout, the Bulldogs inbounded the ball to Erickson in the corner for an open three to pull ahead. Michigan Tech's potential game-winner from near mid-court was off target as the horn sounded, giving Ferris State the win.

Erickson paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 16 points while senior guard Amari Lee added 12 points and senior Dolapo Olayinka netted 10 points. FSU also got eight points from senior big man Vejas Grazulis to go with seven from Reece Hazelton.

The Bulldogs built a 10-point lead in the opening half with just under nine minutes to go before the Huskies responded and the two teams eventually went into halftime tied at 32 points apiece. In the second half, the Huskies took their largest lead of eight points with 4:31 to play, but FSU battled back down the stretch to claim the victory.

Overall, Ferris State shot 45.3% from the floor and also made 17-of-22 (77.3%) free throws. The Bulldogs also outscored MTU 18-13 in points off turnovers and 38-24 inside the paint. The Huskies finished with 16 turnovers compared to 10 for the Bulldogs, who also had eight steals.

On the opposite end, Michigan Tech shot 37.9% (22-58) from the floor and finished eight-of-22 (36.4%) behind the three-point line in addition to 16-of-23 (69.6%) at the line. The Huskies did come up with 16 offensive caroms, leading to a 14-5 edge in points on the offensive glass.

The Bulldog bench outscored the Michigan Tech reserves by a 41-8 count for the evening in the game that featured nine lead changes and was tied 11 times.

Ferris State will close out its trip to the Upper Peninsula by facing Northern Michigan on Saturday (Jan. 13) inside the Berry Sports Center in Marquette starting at 3 p.m. (ET).