UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team defeated Ferris State University tonight (Jan. 7), 79-59. The win improves the Cardinals to 5-7 overall and 2-4 in the GLIAC, while the Bulldogs fall to 8-6 on the season and 5-2 in the conference.

Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) gave the Cardinals an early 9-2 advantage with a three-point basket five minutes into the contest. 

The Saginaw Valley lead was 15-9 after a Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./T.C. Howe HS) slash to the hoop for two at the 10:58 mark of the first half. Foster finished the evening with 18 points going 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-4 from the foul line.

Ferris State knotted up the contest at 19 with 4:29 remaining before the Cardinals closed out the half with a 26-23 edge. Foster would finish the first half with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. 

Meijer "Player of the Game" Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) stretched the Cardinal lead to 33-28 at the 16:55 mark of the second half as he connected on three free throws after drawing a foul. Beland would finish the night with 18 points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field including 13-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) and Webb would connect from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions to bump the SVSU advantage to 49-41 with 11:35 to go in regulation. Schaaf would end the night with eight points and five rebounds.

The Saginaw Valley lead increased to 62-47 as Eli Redman (Bath, Mich.) cut to the hoop for a bucket with 7:30 to go in the contest. Redman finished the game with nine points.

A pair of Webb free throws pushed the SVSU lead to 69-55 with just under four minutes to go.

The Cardinals will return to action on Thursday (Jan. 12) when they host Northern Michigan University for a 6:00 PM start.