UNIVERSITY CENTER - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team hosted the #22-ranked team in the country, Ferris State University, on Saturday (Jan. 31) afternoon in SVSU's James E. O'Neill Jr. Arena. After holding a slim halftime lead (34-32), the Cardinals couldn't hold back as the Bulldogs posted a strong second half and claimed a 62-57 victory.
SVSU opened the game hot in front of a rowdy crowd of 1,039 fans donning the Cardinal red and white. The Cards used six points from junior Damon Bozeman to grab an 8-0 lead over the visitors with about 3 1/2 minutes off the clock.
The Cardinals would extend the lead out to eight points at the 10:28 marker after sophomore Wade Gelhaus made good on a pair of free throws to make the score 19-11 in the home team's favor.
A layup from redshirt freshman Devin Dixon gave SV its largest lead of the opening frame of 11 points, making the score 28-17 with 5:42 showing on the clock.
The Bulldogs cut into the SVSU lead and after a layup with 28 seconds left the visitors used a tip-in to make the score 34-32 in the Cardinals' favor.
That's where the score would hold at heading into halftime, as a triple attempt by sophomore Caleb Davis missed as time was set to expire for the first period.
It was an evenly-played half of basketball besides the close score, with both teams scoring 20 points in the paint and the Bulldogs holding a slight 10-9 edge in bench scoring. SV out-worked Ferris on the glass by a 15-12 margin as well. The Bulldogs shot 53.8% (14-26) for the opening 20 minutes while SVSU was just behind that with a mark of 52.0% (13-25).
Sophomore C.J. Turnage had eight first half points and three boards. Bozeman added six points while Davis and sophomore Garrett Hall each had five points and four rebounds.
Saginaw Valley maintained the lead and extended it out to nine points on two different occasions, both coming after Turnage layups. The first came at the 15:57 marker to make the score 44-35 and the second with 15:03 left and the count 46-37 in SVSU's favor.
The Bulldogs responded with 10-straight points to grab their first lead of the entire ballgame, a one-point advantage at 47-46 with 11:16 showing on the clock. FSU added another bucket to make it a 12-0 run and grab a three-point lead.
The Cardinals bounced-back in a huge way to make the home crowd erupt and get the fans on their feet. SV scored the next eight points, grabbing a 54-49 lead after a Kellen Smith three-point play followed a Davis triple and Turnage layup. The free throw from Smith to convert on the play came at the 5:34 marker.
The game continued its back-and-forth action, with Ferris notching the next eight points on four layups to grab a three-point advantage once more at 57-54.
Hall would have none of that, however, as he hit a triple from the corner in front of the Cardinal bench to knot the game at 57-57 with 1:24 left to play. It marked the first and only time that the game was tied.
Ferris made good on another layup its next time down the court to make the score 59-57 with just under a minute left to play.
A Bulldog foul would put Smith on the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity. He missed the front end of the pair and Ferris took the ball back down the court.
A foul put Ferris's Drew Lehman on the line for two shots and he sank both freebies to extend the lead to 61-57 with 19 ticks showing on the clock.
SVSU missed a three-pointer its next time down and a defensive rebound would put Ferris's Jibreel Jackson at the line with six seconds left and a four-point advantage. He made one of two, making the score 62-57.
That's what the final tallly would be, as the nationally-ranked Bulldogs escaped with the five-point victory.
Saginaw Valley owned the advantage for the majority of the game, holding a lead for 32:00 while the Bulldogs led for just 7:12 of the game. The Cardinals, despite a solid shooting effort in the first half, struggled in the second (28.1%) and shot just 38.6% (22-57) for the game. Ferris had a 41.4% (24-58) mark. Both teams grabbed 38 rebounds and had 14 second-chance points. SV had 14 offensive boards and Ferris 15.
Turnage was named the Meijer "Player of the Game" after posting 16 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes of action for the Cardinals.
Davis added 12 points and was one of three SVSU players to grab eight rebounds. Smith and Hall were the others. Smith added seven assists, three steals and a block as well while Hall had eight points, two helpers and a steal. Hall's eight boards tied a career-high. Junior Mitchell Baenziger chipped-in with seven points in the contest.
Saginaw Valley (16-4, 12-2 GLIAC) returns to the court with another home contest on Monday evening (Feb. 2). The Cardinals host the Hillsdale College Chargers (10-8, 8-6 GLIAC) in a matchup of GLIAC North Division opponents. Tip-off is set for roughly 8:00 pm after the women's game, which tips at 6:00 pm.
