Men's Basketball Defeats Ferris State 91-84

BIG RAPIDS, MICH. – The Northwood University men's basketball team picked up an important 91-84 road win over Ferris State Thursday night (February 11).

Northwood improves to 13-11 overall, 9-9 in the GLIAC. Ferris State falls to 19-5 overall, 13-5 in the GLIAC.

The Timberwolves opened the scoring with a 3-pointer on their opening possession of the game and jumped out to an early 18-9 lead. Ferris State chipped away at the lead, eventually taking the lead for the first time at 30-29.  The Bulldogs led 43-40 with less than two minutes to go in the half before Northwood finished the half with a run, scoring the final eight points of the half to go up 48-43 at the break. NU's offense was strong in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 59.4 percent from the floor (19-32) and 54.5 percent from 3-point range (6-11).

Both teams went on runs throughout the second half. FSU cut the margin down to three at 50-47, but the Timberwolves responded to go up 68-56 with less than 13 minutes to go. The Bulldogs got the lead back down to four (68-64), only to see NU score seven straight to get the lead back to 11 (75-64). NU's lead was back down to 75-71 when sophomore guard Nick Spitzley (Pewamo, Mich./ Pewamo-Westphalia) made back-to-back big plays for the Timberwolves. After connecting on a layup, Spitzley made a 3-pointer for NU on the next trip up the court to get the lead back to nine at 80-71. FSU got no closer than seven the rest of the way while Northwood led by as many as 15 in the final five minutes.

For the game, Northwood finished at 55.6 percent overall (35-63) and 57.1 percent from 3-point range (12-21). Ferris State shot 44.6 percent overall and 28.6 percent from 3-point range (8-28). FSU stayed close thanks to their inside game – the Bulldogs had 21 offensive rebounds, which led them to a 50-30 edge in points in the paint and a 20-6 edge in second chance points.

The balanced Northwood offensive attack featured five players in double figures, led by Maurice Jones (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill) with 17. He also added six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Spitzley had 16 points on 6-8 shooting, while Dylan Langkabel (Morristown, Ind.) added 15. PJ Weaver (Dayton, Ohio/Meadowdale) and Jermaine Myers (Ajax, Ontario) added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Casey Boyle (Grayslake, Ill./Central) grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Northwood.

The Timberwolves will host their home finale Saturday night (February 13), taking on Grand Valley State. Game time is set for 6 p.m.