UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team suffered a 75-69 defeat to Ferris State at home on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (11-13, 5-11 GLIAC) battled back from two double-digit leads but couldn't capture the lead in the loss to the Bulldogs (10-12, 7-8 GLIAC).
"We started both halves on some rough stretches," said SVSU head men's basketball coach Chris Fowler. "They took big leads, and we battled back both times, but we were just never able to take the lead and get over that hump."
Meijer Player of the Game Xavier Thomas (Detroit, Mich. / Brother Rice HS) led SVSU in scoring with 15 points and rebounds with six.
Ferris State started hot with an 8-0 run to open the first five minutes of play. Thomas hit the first shot of the game for SVSU, but the lead remained in favor of the visitors through the first two media stoppages.
Kevonne Taylor (Detroit, Mich. / Chandler Park HS) scored a layup off a forced turnover to start a 5-0 run that trimmed the lead to two points, 21-19, with 5:30 left before the half.
Taylor made an alley-oop from Marquese Josephs (Mississauga, Ontario) with 1:21 left to play in the first that tied the score at 28 all. FSU made one last bucket to hold a two-point lead as the teams entered the locker room at the break.
Josephs began the second half with two free throws that tied the game at 30 in the opening 90 seconds before the Bulldogs rattled off six-straight points to recapture the lead.
A 5-0 run by Ferris gave the game its first double-digit margin, 43-33, at the 15:18 mark of the second half. The gap reached its maximum at 15 points just past the 13-minute mark.
The Cardinals continued to chip away at the lead with Triston Nichols (Shelby Twp., Mich. / De La Salle HS) sparking a 10-0 run with a driving layup. Nichols capped the run a few plays later with an and-one that put the score at 66-65 with just 1:33 left to play.
The lead grew back to two possessions after Ferris State made their free throw attempts and held onto the lead through the final buzzer.
Dontez Scott II (Romulus, Mich. / Summit Academy North) scored 11 points for the Cardinals in the losing effort. Nichols finished with nine points, and he tied for the team-high in assists with four. Javontae Ross (Flint, Mich. / Flint Powers HS) registered seven points and five rebounds off the bench for SVSU. Bryson Huckeby (Freeland, Mich. / Freeland HS) scored nine points and tallied two assists in the game.
UP NEXT: Saginaw Valley State will welcome Grand Valley State to O'Neill Arena on Thursday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. (ET). The Cardinals will look to sweep the season series with the Lakers and push for positioning in the postseason.
