Ferris State men’s basketball’s GLIAC tournament run ended with them being crowned as GLIAC champions while punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament on March 10 at the Berry Evans Center in Marquette, Michigan.
The Bulldogs entered the GLIAC tournament as the No. 3 seed after they finished the regular season 22-7 and 12-6 in GLIAC. Ferris had to run a gauntlet of the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers, Wayne State Warriors and the Grand Valley State Lakers to win the tournament.
The team earned the opportunity to host their first game of the tournament, facing the Rangers on March 6.
The game against Wisconsin-Parkside ended in a win for the Bulldogs 84-82, as they were able to complete the comeback win as they were down at halftime 41-33. The Bulldogs scored 51 second-half points and outscored the Rangers by 10 points to win the game.
The Bulldogs’ combination of efforts had four players in double figures as senior forward Dolapo Olayinka, senior guard Ben Davidson, senior guard Amari Lee and junior guard Ethan Erickson all finished 16 points.
Head coach Andy Bronkema is pleased to be with this team advancing in the GLIAC tournament.
“We are we’re looking forward to it,” Bronkema said. “We want to continue, to find a way to get better every day that we’re playing and find a way to enjoy each other every day and enjoy the hard work that we put in and just keep coming together as a team. It’s not easy to be in the final four of your conference tournament and here we are again in the final four I’m proud of that, I’m proud of these guys, but we want to turn the page and get the next one now.”
The Bulldogs then traveled to Northern Michigan University’s Berry Evans Center, where the GLIAC tournament finals were held. The team faced off against Wayne State on March 9 for a chance to advance to the championship.
In the game, the Bulldogs found themselves down at halftime as the Warriors commanded a 45-36 lead, the team found success in the second half scoring 55 points and holding their opponent to 36 second-half points to win the game with a final score of 91-81 to advance to the championship.
Senior forward Vejas Grazulis led the way offensively, as he scored 26 to help keep Ferris dancing.
The Bulldogs’ championship foe was a familiar one, as Ferris faced their archrival Grand Valley for the right to win the GLIAC. Before their championship bout, the Bulldogs and Lakers split the regular season series, which included a loss to Grand Valley just three weeks prior.
Ferris claimed victory over Grand Valley, beating the Lakers 87-76 for a GLIAC title. The victory marked the Bulldogs’ fifth GLIAC championship in seven years.
Davidson expressed his feelings about winning the GLIAC tourney in his final year.
“I’ve never won the GLIAC tourney before,” Davidson said. “So to be able to win it in my final year is an amazing feeling! I’m so proud of everyone on the team for getting it done in Marquette. Getting an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament is something that we are all proud of and being able to beat our rivals in the championship game makes it a little more sweet! I love this team, and now that we are finally all healthy it’s awesome that we get to show everyone what we are capable of.”
Leading the way for the team in victory against the Lakers were three players off the bench, Erickson with 20 points, Grazulis with 16 points and Lee with 15 points.
Lee talked about what the team will do to have success in the NCAA tournament.
“We must continue to trust the work we put in and trust each other,” Lee said. “Basketball is a team sport, and we need everyone on this roster in order to be successful.”
The Bulldogs will open their NCAA tournament at the University of Indianapolis’ Nicoson Hall to face their interconference opponent Northern Michigan on March 16 with game time set for 7:30 p.m.