Down to the wire: Ferris men edge Grand Valley – The Pioneer

Ferris State's Deng Reng (1) leads the charge down the court. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Ferris State's Deng Reng (1) leads the charge down the court. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Ferris State's Deng Reng (1) leads the charge down the court. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Ferris State's Deng Reng (1) leads the charge down the court. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Down to the wire: Ferris men edge Grand Valley

BIG RAPIDS It went down to the wire, but Ferris States mens basketball team did enough to pull out a 68-65

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win against Grand Valley State at Wink Arena on Friday.

Walt Kelser had 20 points and four rebounds while Michael Peterson added 19 points and seven boards to lead Ferris (6-4. 7-6) to its third straight win.

Ferris built a 37-27 halftime lead. The Bulldogs were 13-of-29 from the floor for 44.8 percent while Grand Valley was 12 of 26 for 46.2 percent.

Michael Peterson was 5-of-8 from the floor and scored 14 points in the first half.

Deng Reng hit a 3-pointer and a field goal for an early 11-6 Bulldog lead.

Kelser scored for a 30-20 lead late in the half and sank a 3-pointer with 51 seconds to go for a 35-25 lead.

Kelser scored a 3-pointer off the glass to beat the shot clock and open the second half. Petersons 3-pointer made it 47-33 with 14:50. Mason Plines dunk at 12:17 put Ferris up 49-38. He hit two free throws with 10:17 to play for a 51-41 lead. Jordan Harris connected for Grand Valley to make it 51-45.

Petersons offensive rebound and putback at 6:55 made it 57-48. Jimmy Schollers 3-pointer made it 60-50.

Kelser scored for a 63-54 lead with 4:30 to go.

Harris 3-point play made it 63-59. Vejas Grazulis followed with a hoop for Ferris.

The Lakers hung tight and narrowed it to 65-63 with a minute to go on Jake Van Tubbergens basket. Kelser hit a free throw with 33 seconds to go. Christian Negron scored for a 66-65 game, but Reng hit two free throws with 15 seconds to go to make it 68-65. Jordans 3-point try was blocked but the Lakers got the inbounds underneath the basket with 3.7 seconds to go. They called another time out when they couldnt make the inbounds pass. Jordans 3-point try failed with a second to play and Ferris secured the win.

At the end they were a little more physical and getting to the free-throw line, FSU coach Andy Bronkema said. They were really pounding us on the glass. We hung on and made just enough free-throws. Kelser put up another 20 with all eyes on him. It was fun to see Grazulis battle. We have to do it again tomorrow. Well have to flip the page quick and see what we can learn.

Van Tubbergen had 19 points and nine rebounds for Grand Valley (4-4, 4-4).

We have figured out how to play hard and how to bring the energy, Bronkema said. Thats what we did again today for three wins in a row. We got beat up bad against Lake State as far as energy wise and hustle. Win or lose, you dont want to do that. Three games in a row, weve had it. I dont want to be outrebounded by 10 by anybody. Thats the game within the game.

Also scoring for Ferris were Pline (6), Reng (6), Grazulis (6), Scholler (3), Jeremiah Washington (3) and Logan Ryan (2).

Were used to packed gymnasiums for this rivalry, Bronkema said. Its unfortunate the guys dont get to experience that this year but yet its fortunate were playing. Were happy were playing.

Grand Valley had a 35-25 rebounding advantage. Ferris was 23-of-55 from the floor and 10-of-26 in triples. GV was 25-of-50 from the floor and 2-of-17 in 3-pointers.

There was a lot of energy on both sides, Bronkema said. That makes it fun.

The two teams play today at Wink Arena, with tipoff time at 3 p.m.

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Down to the wire: Ferris men edge Grand Valley - The Pioneer