UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team lost 50-47 on a last second buzzer beater today (Jan. 26) against Ferris State University in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest. With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 7-9 overall and 5-8 in the GLIAC, while the Bulldogs improve to 10-8 and 9-5 in conference play.

SVSU got off to a slow start, missing their first five field goal attempts, before "Meijer Player of the Game" Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) made a layup to cut the Cardinals deficit to 4-2 after four minutes of play. Webb finished the contest with a team-high 14 points.

The Cardinals took their first lead of the game 9-8 after five straight points by Damon Bozeman (Detroit, Mich. / Madison Heights HS) with 10:53 remaining in the opening half.

Saginaw Valley took their biggest lead of the half at the 9:21 mark after a Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich. / Menominee HS) three-pointer put the Cardinals up 12-10.

The rest of the half saw back-and-forth physical play with the Cardinals tying the game twice before heading into the halftime intermission down 23-21.

Saginaw Valley opened up the second half scoring with a Chris Webb layup to knot the contest at 23-23 with 19:52 left to play in the game.

The Cardinals reclaimed the lead 26-25 with 18:25 left to play on another Brett Beland jumper from beyond the arc. After falling behind, a rebound and coast-to-coast layup by SVSU's Sterling Johnson (Detroit, Mich. / De La Salle HS) tied the game at 30-30 with 13:40 remaining in the contest.

Over the next four minutes, turnovers and missed field goals saw the Cardinals go down by as many as ten points (42-32) with 9:23 left in the game. However, Saginaw Valley hung tough and responded with a 13-3 run capped by a Chris Webb layup to tie the contest at 45-45 with 1:56 left in the game.

After trading buckets, the Bulldogs got the ball back with 21 seconds left and made the game-winning three point shot with 0.6 seconds to come away with the 50-47 victory. 

The Cardinals had their opportunities at the free throw line but fired only 2-8 from the stripe in the second half. SVSU lost despite leading a 30-20 edge in points in the paint and 6-0 in fast break points.

Saginaw Valley led in bench points 16-4 thanks to a great effort by Damon Bozeman, who recorded a team-high six rebounds to go along with eight points. Other notable contributions came from Brett Beland, who scored nine points and Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) who chipped in with six points and three boards. 

The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team will return to the hardwood Wednesday (Jan. 30) for a 6:00 PM home contest against Lake Erie College.