Sitting at 18-4 and 8-3 in the GLIAC, the Ferris State men’s basketball team controls their destiny to clinch at least a share of the conference with nine games left.
Over a week ago, the Bulldogs held sole possession of first place in the GLIAC. With back-to-back losses for the first time this season to Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State, Ferris has fallen down to third place.
However, there is still time for the Bulldogs to make their way to the top of the conference and clinch a share of first place.
The most simple avenue would be for Ferris to win the rest of their remaining nine games. Due to them still having a game versus first-place Michigan Tech, winning out would mean a share of first place at the very minimum in the conference.
All three of the recent Bulldog losses have been close and competitive games due to the nature of the GLIAC, according to senior forward Reece Hazelton.
“We have had a couple of losses recently, those sting but the GLIAC is always tough no matter who you play,” Hazelton said. “We have nine games to make sure we are ready for the postseason, playing in close games is going to help.”
A key contributor to the recent skid for Ferris has been the three-point battle. The Bulldogs lead the GLIAC in both three-point percentage and opponent three-point percentage, but they have been out-shot from behind the arc in each loss.
Junior guard Tyler Hamilton isn’t worried about the lack of three-point production from his team.
“We are too good of a shooting team to lose the three point battle many more times,” Hamilton said. “We trust our shot, we are just going to have to stay confident and keep working hard in the gym. The shots will start to fall.”
Coming up, the Bulldogs have six games on the road and three games at home. Ferris has posted a 12-1 record on their home court while sporting a 5-3 record on the road.
With a four-game road stretch upcoming this week for the Bulldogs. They will need to grind out tough wins in the extremely close GLIAC.
According to Hamilton, the biggest key to putting together wins is the defense and rebounding.
“We haven’t been defending well so that has been a major focus for us in practice and film,” Hamilton said. “Rebounding is also a large focus, we need to get back to closing possessions how we were earlier in the year.”
Coming into this season, head coach Andy Bronkema stated that his team’s biggest strength was their depth. Ferris is a team that typically likes to reach deep in their bench and consistently run a 10-man rotation but has been riddled with injuries on the bench.
Senior transfer center Kenny Turner has missed the last four games, and junior transfer wing Donovan Brown-Boyd has missed the past six. These two combine for 14 points per game off the bench for Ferris. Their absences have led the Bulldogs to run a slimmer rotation than normal.
However, one of the key bench pieces for Ferris, senior forward Mykel Bingham, is not worried about the injuries for the team.
“They do play a role for sure,” Bingham said. “But those guys are going to be back soon and we have been taking our recovery and treatment very seriously to make sure we can prevent those injuries from taking a toll on us.”
This week, the Bulldogs will continue conference play with two opponents they have beaten once already this season. Ferris took down Davenport 74-68 in their first matchup and Grand Valley State 77-63 earlier in the season. The Bulldogs face Davenport on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Grand Valley State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8.