Ferris men’s basketball team is aiming to win back-to-back GLIAC tournament championships.
The Bulldogs finished a successful regular season with a 24-7 record and a 14-6 record in the GLIAC. This campaign has secured Ferris the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
GLIAC championships. Archive photo by: Abe Kraus | Torch Photographer
The top eight seeds in the conference make the tournament, and Ferris will host sixth-seeded Wayne State in the tournament’s quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 6.
The Bulldogs look to have some repeat success this year after winning the tournament last year with a win over Grand Valley State in the championship game, eventually making it to the Elite Eight in the DII NCAA tournament.
Four of the Bulldogs’ five starters were key rotation players on last season’s team, including senior Reece Hazelton, who says the experience will be a large part of how far they make it.
“It does help a lot that we have guys who played in last year’s run,” Hazelton said. “We are a pretty young team overall, but I think over the season we have gotten closer and gained experience as we go. We are all going to come out and be ready to play.”
Ferris split the season series with Wayne State at one game apiece, the most recent matchup being a Warrior win on Feb. 27 in an 83-75 victory.
The Bulldogs will have to key in on the Wayne State guard tandem of sophomore guard Jordan Briggs and junior guard Carmelo Harris. In the last game, they struggled against the backcourt, as the two combined for 44 points while shooting 100% (17-17) from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Tyler Hamilton knows the Bulldogs need to be prepared for Wednesday.
“We have to be ready to play no matter what,” Hamilton said. “Their guards killed us last game, we need to be able to contain them and dominate the glass if we want to win.”
The defense will be a major point of emphasis for Ferris in their pursuit of the NCAA tournament. They finished the regular season with the sixth-best defense in the GLIAC, allowing 70.9 points per game, but have allowed 77.3 points per game to the eight teams in the tournament field.
Although the points allowed per game are in the middle of the pack for Ferris, they still allow the lowest field goal percentage in the GLIAC at just 39.8% per game.
They will need to hone in on the glass to make a run similar to last season.
During the regular season, the Bulldogs were the best rebounding team in the conference, pulling in 40.2 rebounds per game. Ferris has been able to use their size and effort in the front court to bully teams inside all season.
Junior center Nate Claerbaut believes the team is going to need to be successful inside to make it far in the postseason.
“Our goal all year has been to work the ball inside out,” Claerbaut said. “When we can get those looks inside and clean up the glass on the other end it makes everybody else’s jobs so much easier and allows us to control the game how we want.”
The Bulldogs’ three-point shooting will also need an uptick, they finished third in the conference, shooting 39.6% from three and will need to continue that mark as each game becomes more important than the last.
If Ferris can win the GLIAC tournament, they will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. If not, it will be up to the committee to decide if their resume is enough to make the field.
The Bulldogs have made the tournament each of the last four seasons and attempt to make it five seasons in a row.
The quarterfinals will be Wednesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. If the Bulldogs were to advance, the semifinals take place on Saturday, March 8 before the finals on Sunday, March 9.