After dropping a 73-71 heartbreaker to Wayne State in the GLIAC Championship on March 6, the Bulldogs flipped the script and downed the Warriors in a rematch in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ferris picked up its first NCAA Tournament win in six years with a 90-88 victory on March 12 in the Midwest region quarterfinal game that pit the two foes against each other for the second time in a week.
Behind a 31 point effort from senior center Justin Keenan and a 27-point outburst off the bench from sophomore guard Kenny Brown, the Bulldogs held off a furious rally from the Warriors in the final minute to preserve the win.
Wayne State outscored Ferris 14-7 in the final minute of the contest to pull the Warriors within two with five seconds left, but WSU’s Ike Udanoh could not get a shot off in the final seconds and the Bulldogs came away victorious.
The win was the first NCAA Tournament victory for Ferris since a win over Southern Indiana in the semifinals of the 2004-05 tournament.
Sixth-seeded Ferris now moves on to a regional semifinal matchup against seven-seed Drury(Mo.) at 5 p.m. on March 13. Drury took down second-seed Southern Indiana in the opening round of the tournament.