Men's BB Notes: GLIAC Semifinals/Finals
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Friday, March
5
Men's Basketball at Findlay, 6 p.m.
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* The Game: The Ferris State men’s
basketball team has advanced to the 2010 Great Lakes
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Semifinals
and will face defending NCAA Division II National Champion Findlay
on Friday, March 5, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. (EST) at Croy
Gymnasium in Findlay, Ohio. The winner advances into
Saturday’s (March 6) league tournament title game at 7 p.m.
(EST).
* Ticket Info: Tickets are $10 (reserved), $8
(general admission) and $5 (college/students). They will be sold at
the door starting one hour prior to game time. A limited number of
tickets will be held for FSU fans. Please call (419) 434-6684 for
more information.
* Media Coverage: Friday’s game and
Saturday’s title contest (if neccesary) will be carried live
locally on WBRN 1460 AM and 107.7 FM with Rob Bentley providing the
broadcast coverage. B2 Networks will provide a live video
pay-per-view webcast for all tournament games and live internet
statistics will be available. Complete links will be available via
FSU’s Athletics Website at
www.ferrisstatebulldogs.com - click on the
“upcoming events” tab for links.
* Follow On Twitter: Bulldog fans can also follow
all FSU postseason games via Twitter. To access the service, visit
www.twitter.com/ferrisathletics
to follow the tweet-by-tweet coverage with periodic scoring
updates.
* Tourney Notes: The Bulldogs are seeded fourth
and the Oilers first entering the semifinal round ........
Second-seeded Grand Valley State will meet third-seeded Hillsdale
in the 8 p.m. (EST) nightcap with the two winners squaring off
Saturday (March 6) in the 7 p.m. (EST) title contest ...... Note:
More information on possible championship game opponents can be
found on page four of this release.
* What’s At Stake: The eventual tournament
champion will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA
Division II Midwest Regional Men’s Basketball Tournament
slated for March 13-16 at a site to be determined. Eight teams,
including six at-large squads, will participate in the regional
with the official announcement set to be released late Sunday
(March 7) evening.
* Quarterfinal Results: The Bulldogs, who were
seeded fifth overall going into Tuesday’s (March 2)
quarterfinals, were the only lower seeded team to pull out a road
win as FSU defeated Saginaw Valley State 65-59 in University
Center, Mich. UF advanced to the semifinals with a 100-90 triumph
over Ashland on Tuesday in Findlay, Ohio. In the other quarterfinal
games, GVSU beat Wayne State 47-44 at home in Allendale while
Hillsdale posted a 78-68 win over Lake Superior State at Hillsdale,
Mich.
* The Records: Ferris State (16-12, 13-9
GLIAC) has won 10 of its last 15 games to date this season, but
presently lost five of its last seven to date. FSU recorded a 14-14
overall record during the 2008-09 season and placed third in the
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North
Division with a 12-10 league mark.
Findlay holds a
22-6 mark and won the GLIAC South Division title with a league-best
17-5 conference record. The Oilers claimed the 2008-09 NCAA
Division II National Championship with a perfect 36-0 ledger.
* The Coaches: Ferris State – Bill Sall
(Calvin, 1994), 8th season, 122-119 (.506) – (2-10-0 vs. UF).
Sall was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American at Calvin
College from 1985-90 and previously held assistant coaching
positions at Calvin (1992-95), Ferris State (1995-98) and Hillsdale
(1998-02). He served as FSU’s interim coach for a brief
portion of the 1995-96 season.
Findlay – Ron
Niekamp, 25th year at UF. Niekamp has guided the Oilers to
eight GLIAC South titles since 1999 and led UF to a national title
last campaign while earning national Coach of the Year honors. His
teams have posted 24-straight winning seasons to date. He also won
208 games as a prep coach before Findlay.
* Third Meeting This Year: Friday’s meeting
will be FSU’s third against Findlay this season. The Oilers
posted an impressive 90-62 home win at Croy Gymansium in the first
meeting (Dec. 10). However, FSU responded with a 86-77 victory at
Wink Arena in early February (Feb. 6) behind a personal career-high
35 points from junior forward/center Justin
Keenan. This year's home win was only FSU's second against
the Oilers in the last 45 years.
* FSU Tourney Notebook: The Bulldog men, who are
making their 11th all-time tournament appearance, own a 8-12 mark
in the league’s annual postseason event ..... FSU will be
making its first appearance in the semifinals since 2005-06 when
the Bulldogs upset Findlay 64-62 in the second round at Allendale,
Mich. The Bulldogs then dropped an 80-58 decision in the final
contest (3/3/06) to host Grand Valley State ......... Ferris
captured the 1997-98 league tourney title and is making its fifth
tourney appearance in the last six years, including a
second-straight berth ...... FSU holds a 4-5 overall mark to date
in GLIAC Tourney play under head coach Bill Sall
.......... The Bulldogs had dropped each of their last two GLIAC
Tourney quarterfinal games in 2007 and 2009 at Grand Valley State
prior to Tuesday’s win at Saginaw Valley State ..... FSU is
3-4 all-time in GLIAC Tournament Semifinal games.
* Looking At Findlay: Findlay holds a 22-6
overall record to date this year after winning the NCAA Division II
National Championship last season with a 36-0 mark. The Oilers
claimed their ninth GLIAC South title this season since 1999
despite losing three starters from a year ago. Head coach Ron
Niekamp, who’s in his 25th season at the helm, has led the
Oilers to NCAA Division II’s best winning percentage this
decade (83.3%). Senior guard Marcus Parker was chosen as this
year’s GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year and is one of three
players in double digits at 15.1 points per game. Junior guard
Nathan Hyde averages a team-best 17.8 points per contest. UF has
now won eight of the last nine divisional crowns and four of the
last six conference tournaments to date. Findlay has won
six-straight games to date with two coming in overtime.
* Series Info vs Findlay: Findlay is presently
15-4 all-time against the Bulldogs and has won 14 of the last 16
series’ meetings. UF beat Ferris twice last season followed
by a convincing 90-62 home win earlier this year (12/10) before the
Bulldogs’ 86-77 triumph at Wink Arena (Feb. 6). The Oilers
had claimed 10-straight wins in regular season play over the
Bulldogs prior to the loss in Big Rapids. FSU’s last
series’ win before this year’s victory came in the
2005-06 GLIAC Tournament Semifinals (3/3/06) by a 64-62 score in
Allendale.
* Tough Place To Play: The Oilers have been
particularly tough at Croy Gymnasium this decade. In the past seven
years, the Oilers are a staggering 120-2 (.984) at home and
currently own an 89-game regular-season homecourt winning streak.
They have won 52 games overall in a row at home counting tournament
play heading into Friday's game.
* FSU 65, SVSU 59: Ferris advanced into the
semifinals of the 2010 GLIAC Tournament with a hard-fought 65-59
triumph over Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday (March 2) evening in
the quarterfinal round at SVSU's O'Neill Arena inside the Ryder
Center at University Center, Mich. In Tuesday's quarterfinal, the
Cardinals built a 12-point lead with 8:03 to play in the first half
before FSU was able to trim the deficit back to only three at the
break. Ferris then outscored SVSU 37-28 in the second half to notch
the victory before a crowd of 1,141 fans. The Bulldogs took the
lead for good on a layup by junior forward Justin
Keenan with 14:12 to play and never trailed the rest of
the way. FSU increased its advantage to as many as six points with
4:46 left and then was able to sink six free throws in the final 37
seconds to secure the victory. Junior guard Darien
Gay led the Bulldogs with 14 points while both Keenan and
junior guard Matt DeHart added 13 points apiece
....... The win avenged two earlier regular-season setbacks to the
Cardinals, who had won the tiebreaker over FSU for the homecourt
edge after the two teams tied for fourth place overall in the GLIAC
standings ........ The game featured 10 lead changes, but the score
was tied only once in the contest ...... The contest was FSU's
first-ever GLIAC Tournament game against SVSU, which was making its
first berth since 1999 .... It was FSU’s first win at the
Ryder Center since a 84-73 triumph on Jan. 31, 2007, as the
Bulldogs had dropped four-straight games in the facility.
* The Last Meeting: Ferris State snapped a
10-game regular-season series’ losing streak as the Bulldogs
toppled the defending NCAA Division II National Champions in the
University of Findlay in the last meeting between the two teams on
Feb. 6 as the Bulldogs pulled out an exciting 86-77 triumph at Jim
Wink Arena. The win, which ended Findlay's five-game overall
series' streak, was also Ferris' first against the Oilers in the
current Wink Arena as the Bulldogs had dropped all five previous
tilts versus Findlay in the 11-year old facility. The triumph was
only FSU's second victory in the series' during the last 45 years
as the 2005-06 GLIAC Semifinal win had been its first over Findlay
since 1964.
* GLIAC Tourney Play: Ferris State holds an
all-time mark of 1-0 against Findlay in GLIAC Tournament play with
the lone previous meeting coming in 2005-06 when FSU recorded a
64-62 triumph at the Grand Valley State Fieldhouse Arena in
Allendale, Mich. ............... The Bulldogs are presently 0-4
all-time against rival Grand Valley State in GLIAC Tournament
action with two of the meetings coming in the league championship
game. Each of FSU’s last three tournament berths have ended
with losses to the Lakers in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 tournaments
............. Ferris is 0-2 overall to date versus Hillsdale in
league tournament action with the most recent result being a 87-85
Charger victory in the 1994-95 semifinals.
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