After a weekend against Davenport and Grand Valley, the Ferris State men’s basketball team hosts the Lake Superior State Lakers and the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.
The Bulldogs (7-8, 4-4 in GLIAC) enter the weekend with a 3-3 record in January, having won against Roosevelt, Wisconsin-Parkside, and Davenport. Ferris State is averaging 77.3 points per game on 44.6% shooting and 33.3% from three-point range, as well as averaging 38. 3 rebounds and 14.8 assists per game.
Junior Justin Asi believes the team is in good shape as the GLIAC schedule starts to heat up.
“I think it’s a good win for us,” Asi said. “After losing two last weekend, I think this one’s gonna help with our confidence, and we got our rivals GV too. How can we not go out and do it? So I’m ready for that.”
Ferris is led in scoring by senior Mykel Bingham’s 11.7 points per game on 53.9% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc. Bingham also leads the team with 7.3 rebounds a game. Asi leads the team in three-point percentage with 50% shooting.
Interim head coach Alex Fodness knows how hard these GLIAC matchups will be.
“Obviously, there are no easy games in the GLIAC, and winning at home is almost just as tough as winning on the road some nights so we just got to be ready to go, that’s really what it’s all about,” Fodness said. “The conference is one that doesn’t matter what team you play against; if you show up and you don’t play well, you have a chance to lose. Lake Superior is going to be really tough and physical, Saginaw is going to be really tough and physical, and they have one of the leading scorers in the conference, so they’re going to pose some same challenges and different ones. But we have to focus more on what we’re doing and continue to try and be tougher.”
Lake Superior State (8-8, 2-5 in GLIAC) is 2-3 in January, with its wins coming at home against Purdue Northwest by a score of 85-68 and at Roosevelt, 59-52. The Lakers are averaging 84.9 points per game on 46.7% from the field and 35.3% from three. The Lakers also average 37.0 rebounds per game and 16.4 assists per game. Redshirt sophomore forward Omar Suleiman leads Lake Superior in scoring with 16.5 points per game on 42.4% shooting and 34.9% from three.
Saginaw Valley State (9-6, 3-4 in GLIAC) is 2-3 in the new year as well, beating Wayne State 65-62 at home and Roosevelt 93-68 on the road. The Cardinals average 78.7 points per game on 45.2% shooting and 32.6% from deep, as well as averaging 39.6 rebounds per game and 14.1 assists per game. Saginaw Valley has three players averaging ten points or more, and is led in scoring by redshirt sophomore guard Xavier Thomas. Thomas is averaging 18.0 points per game on 40.5% shooting and 32.4% from three-point range.
Senior Brandon Claerbaut believes the momentum will carry into future games.
“I feel like every GLIAC win, it brings momentum within ourselves,” Claerbaut said. “So, we got a big on Monday versus Grand Valley, hoping to take care of that. But just going into next week as well, it’s nice having all six home games in a row now. So, I feel if we just stay the course, not get too high, and stay level headed, we’ll be confident throughout.”
The Bulldogs’ next stretch of games will both be at home at Wink Arena, hosting Wayne State on Saturday, January 31, at 3 pm and Purdue Northwest on February 2 at 7:30 pm.