Ferris State Advances To GLIAC Tourney Championship Game By Beating Wayne State

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball squad advanced to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Tournament Championship game, beating Wayne State by a 91-81 score on Saturday (March 9) afternoon inside the Berry Events Center in Marquette.

The Bulldogs rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit, scoring 55 points in the final 20 minutes of action to come away with the win.

With the victory, the third-seeded Bulldogs will meet fourth-seeded rival Grand Valley State in the tournament championship game on Sunday (March 10) in Marquette at 2 p.m. (ET).

Ferris State was held to 38.7% shooting in the first half, but shot 63.3% from the floor in the final half to beat WSU for the third time this season. The Bulldogs also scored 50 points inside the paint and held a 28-13 margin in points off turnovers in the victory.

Senior big man Vejas Grazulis returned to his hometown of Marquette and put together one of the best performances of his career, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also knocked down all six of his free throw attempts.

Along with Grazulis, the Bulldogs also got 14 points off the bench from junior guard Ethan Erickson to go with 12 by graduate senior Dolapo Olayinka, who added a team-high eight rebounds. Fellow graduate senior Jack Ammerman tallied 11 points and hit a pair of big three's early in the second half to help fuel FSU's comeback bid.

The Bulldogs finished with a 50.8% shooting figure and made 25-of-28 (89.3%) free throws while going four-of-15 (26.7%) from long range. The Warriors finished with a 51.1% figure from the floor and totaled a seven-of-18 (38.9%) three-point figure along with a 28-of-38 (73.7%) showing at the charity stripe.

Overall, the Bulldogs held a 33-23 rebounding advantage and FSU came up with 12 offensive boards compared to only five for the Warriors. That helped lead to a 15-10 margin in points scored on the offensive glass and FSU finished with only nine turnovers while Wayne State netted 14 miscues.

Six Wayne State players reached double-figure scoring with Rob Lee, Jr., totaling a team-best 17 points.

Ferris State improved to 24-7 overall this season with the win and the victory helped the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament hopes. The winner of the league tournament receives the conference's automatic bid into he NCAA Division II Tournament.

Sunday's GLIAC Tournament Championship game can be heard live on local flagship station Sunny 97.3 FM and the Bulldog Sports Network with online coverage available at FerrisStateBulldogs.com. A live pay-per-view video webcast will also be offered via FloSports.