Junior guard Ethan Erickson set the school’s all-time three-pointers made record, and the Ferris State men’s basketball team walked away with a sweep in their first homestand.
The No. 25 ranked Ferris State basketball team (3-1) held the annual GMAC/GLIAC crossover event over the weekend that included wins over Northwood (0-2) by a score of 85-58 and Lake Erie (1-1) by a score of 94-72.
The first game, played on Friday, Nov. 8 against Northwood, was a win in more than one way for the Bulldogs. Going into Friday’s contest, Erickson sat tied with former Bulldog Carlton Epps for the most three-pointers made in a single career at 240. With 5:59 left in the first half, Erickson knocked down number 241.
Erickson was excited to put his name in the record books.
“The record means a lot to me, I worked on that my whole life and that was my goal when I came here,” Erickson said. “Shoutout to my teammates and all of the work they do to get me open to hit all of those shots.”
Erickson will surely add some cushion to the record as the year goes on, he has been a prolific shot-maker his entire four-year career with Ferris and continues to increase his scoring average with each passing season.
After a hot start in the first half against the Timberwolves, turnovers and a rebounding deficit allowed Northwood to stick around for the majority of the first half.
The Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to close out the first half and take the lead 35-27 into the break.
Rebounding was a point of emphasis for Ferris at halftime. They were the bigger team but were only winning the rebound battle by six at halftime.
As the Bulldogs cruised to a 27-point victory they wound up out-rebounding the Timberwolves 46-26.
Junior center Nathan Claerbaut was a large reason for that disparity, the 7-foot big man hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds including five on the offensive glass.
Claerbaut made sure the Bulldogs were more aggressive in their second-half rebounding efforts.
“They had way too many offensive rebounds in the first half,” Claerbaut said. “We didn’t care that we were winning, we had to fix it. Our main focus was to dominate the glass.”
The Bulldogs shot the ball well at 51.5% (35-68) from the field and 47.6% (10-21) from beyond the arc.
Claerbaut added 13 points, which gave him his first double-double of the season. Erickson led all scorers with 16, and senior Reece Hazelton and freshman Jaxson Whitaker were behind with 12 points each.
The second game of the weekend was against the Lake Erie College Storm.
Ferris was excellent on offense, putting up a season-high 94 points on 57.4% (35-61) from the field, which was also a season-high.
Due to the Lake Erie high-pressure full-court defense, the Bulldogs were able to get a lot of easy buckets once they broke the press.
Head coach Andy Bronkema was happy with how his team handled the pressure.
“When we break the press, they gamble and we get an easy bucket,” Bronkema said. “I am proud of our team for winning games in different ways.”
The defense was also key for Ferris, they held the Storm to 30.6% from the field (22-72). They also racked up six steals and nine blocks.
Bronkema loved how active his team was on defense.
“Our half-court defense was so good that it overcame 19 turnovers.” Bronkema said, “Being active and staying in the passing lanes was key today.”
Four Bulldogs were in double figures, and Erickson led all scorers with 21. Junior Tyler Hamilton tallied 14, junior Mykel Bingham had 12 and Claerbaut put up 12.
Ferris will play two more games this week, one at home against Lewis University on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and one away against McKendree on Saturday, Nov. 16.