Ferris Men's Hoops To Play Exhibition At Indiana

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Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball team will have an opportunity to play in one of college basketball's most storied venues this season.

The Bulldogs will play an exhibition contest against one of college basketball's all-time winningest programs in the Indiana Hoosiers on Monday, Nov. 8, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.  The game is slated for a 7 p.m. (ET) tipoff.

"This will be an oustanding opportunity for our players," said FSU head coach Bill Sall.  "Few places have more tradition and prestige than Assembly Hall and we're appreciative of the chance to play Indiana.

"It will be a good test for our team and a tremendous lead-in to the regular season as well," he said.

The exhition contest is tentatively slated to be televised live on BigTenNetwork.com.  It will be the second exhibition tilt for both schools prior to the start of the regular-season.

The Hoosiers return all five starters and 11 letterwinners from last season's squad, which compiled a 10-21 overall record and placed 10th (4-14) in the Big Ten.  IU is guided by third-year head coach Tom Crean, a Mount Pleasant native who formerly served as the head coach at Marquette University and was an assistant at Michigan State.

Indiana enters the 2010-11 season with more than 1,600 all-time victories and 20 Big Ten regular-season championships, many of which came under former legendary head coach Bobby Knight.  They've also made 35 NCAA Tournament appearances and captured five national championships.

Assembly Hall opened during the 1971-72 season and since then over six million fans have attended Indiana Men's Basketball games. The facility holds 17,472 fans and is consistently sold out throughout the regular season.

For ticket information, please call 1-866-IUSPORTS or email iuticket@indiana.edu.

In addition to the exhibition against the Hoosiers, the Bulldogs have also scheduled a regular-season game against another NCAA Division I foe in Eastern Michigan.  The contest will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at EMU's Convocation Center in Ypsilanti with the start time scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET).

This year marks the second consecutive season the Bulldogs will play a Mid-American Conference (MAC) team in regular-season competition following last year's (11/16/09) 82-69 loss at Central Michigan.

A year ago, EMU finished in a tie for second place in the MAC West Division (8-8) while posting a 17-15 overall record in 2009-10 under head coach Charles Ramsey.

The Bulldog men's basketball team welcomes back seven letterwinners from last campaign. Six of the men's players returning started at least one contest a year ago and the Bulldogs figure to be lead by 2010-11 Division II Bulletin Preseason National Player of the Year Justin Keenan, who earned All-America First Team accolades a season ago.

FSU concluded the 2009-10 men's basketball campaign with a 16-13 overall record and the Bulldogs placed tied for second (13-9) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) North Division play. Additionally, FSU made its 11th GLIAC Tournament appearance last campaign, which was the program's fifth berth in the last six years.

The Bulldog men's basketball squad is slated to tipoff the year with a preseason exhibition matchup against Aquinas College on Thursday, Oct. 28, in Grand Rapids, Mich.  Ferris hosts longtime West Michigan foe Calvin in its first official contest on Saturday, Nov. 13, at FSU's Jim Wink arena in Big Rapids.

FSU officially opens practice with its first workout on Friday (Oct. 15) afternoon.