Ferris State Moves Into Tie Atop GLIAC With Dominating Home Win Over Michigan Tech

Postgame Highlights & Interview 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad kept the momentum going and surged into a four-way tie atop the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) as the Bulldogs stormed past visiting Michigan Tech 78-50 on Thursday (Jan. 26) night at Jim Wink Arena.

FSU broke the game open with a dominant second half, outscoring MTU 44-21 over the final 20 minutes after building a five-point halftime lead. The win was FSU's fifth-straight this season.

With the win, Ferris State improved to 16-5 overall and 7-3 in the GLIAC and is now tied atop the conference with Northern Michigan, Parkside and Lake Superior State following Thursday's play.

Redshirt sophomore guard Solomon Oraegbu led the Bulldogs with a game-high 20 points while sophomore Ethan Erickson went five-of-six behind the three-point line and netted 15 points in the victory. FSU also got eight points each from Dolapo Olayinka and Jimmy Scholler. Olayinka added six rebounds and three assists while Scholler also contributed six boards, five assists and three steals.

Ferris State shot 58.8% overall and connected on 62.1% of its second-half field goals in the victory. The Bulldogs finished six-of-12 (50%) from long range and went 12-of-15 (80%) at the free throw stripe.

Defensively, the Bulldogs also held Michigan Tech to only 28.6% shooting with MTU finishing 10-of-31 (32.3%) from three-point range and four-of-five (80%) at the charity line.

Ferris State held a strong 42-26 rebounding edge for the game and outscored the Huskies 44-14 inside the paint and 24-2 on the break. FSU finished with 17 turnovers to 15 for the Huskies, but the Bulldogs also had nine steals and seven blocked shots. Along with Scholler, Mykel Bingham had three steals and added a team-high three blocks along with a squad-best seven rebounds.

FSU also finished with 23 assists, including eight by Amari Lee in addition to the five from Scholler.

The Huskies, who fell to 4-15 on the year and 1-9 in the GLIAC, were led by Brd Simonsen off the bench with 11 points. He was the lone MTU player to reach double-figure scoring.

Ferris State will try to keep its hold on first-place in the league this Saturday (Jan. 28) when the Bulldogs play host to fellow co-leader Northern Michigan starting at 3 p.m. (ET) inside Wink Arena. FSU will honor the back-to-back NCAA Division II National Champion Ferris State football team at halftime with FSU's championship fall soccer and volleyball squads slated to be honored during the women's game earlier in the day.