FERRIS 93, PURDUE NORTHWEST 89
The Purdue University Northwest Men's Basketball team hosted the Ferris State Bulldogs for their Homecoming matchup on Thursday, February 20th, celebrating the "Roaring 20's" on the John Friend Court. After a contest that remind close throughout a majority of play, the Pride would ultimately fall in the final minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first two minutes would be dry for both teams until Ferris put up a deep 3-pointer, followed by a quick layup from Durante Lee. The opening twenty minutes of play would be a battle between these two programs with Ferris managing to find a narrow six-point lead with just under nine minutes to play. Late foul trouble for the Bulldogs would place the Pride at the line several times in the closing seven minutes of the half, followed by a deep 3-pointer from Jordan Doss that would close the Bulldogs lead to a very close 30-29. A layup from Gregory Boyle followed by an and-one would tie the game at 39-39 with 3:39 remaining, followed by a layup from Doss at 2:29 that would give the Pride the lead at 43-31.

By the end of the first half, the Bulldogs would have retaken a very tight lead, going into halftime with a score of 50-47, shooting 56% from the field and 44% from downtown, compared to the Pride's 47% and 29%, respectively.

The second half would open with a deep 3-pointer from Xavier Allison, tying up the game once more at 50-50, followed by a 3-pointer from Tim Gilmore that would give the lead back to the Black and Gold. Both teams would trade the narrow lead several times in the following minutes until a mid-half surge from the Bulldogs would return a comfortable six-point lead to Ferris State at 66-60. PNW would again claw their way back on top with ten minutes remaining in the game, taking back the lead off a layup from Jyrus Freels and further opening the gap after a trip to the line from Gilmore gave the Pride the 69-66 edge.

The ongoing trade of layups and fouls from both teams in the remaining nine minutes of the game would see a series of aggressive defense and full-court pressure. In what would remain a close three-point contest, the Bulldogs would find the footing to open a seven-point gap on the Pride with just over two minutes to play. Chandler Spring would answer with a clean three-point shot from downtown followed by a layup and an and-one from Freels to tighten the evening to a one-point contest at 86-85 in Ferris' favor with just over seventy seconds to play.

With the final minute counting down, the Bulldogs would play off a turnover and foul from PNW to open their lead to 90-85. When the final whistle blew, the Black and Gold would be unable to reclaim the led, falling to Ferris with a final score of 93-89

 
WHO LED THE WAY FOR THE PRIDE

Jyrus Freels would be the top scorer from either team, putting up 21 points shooting 8-9 from the field and 5-7 from the charity stripe, while also pulling down three rebounds and two assists. Tim Gilmore would record 15 points in the scorebook with nine coming from downtown, and Anthony Barnard would put up 13, shooting 60% from the field and 50% from behind the arc.

TEAM STATS
PNW finished the night shooting 33-62 from the field, 9-23 from behind the arc, and 14-18 from the free throw line. The Bulldogs would record the night shooting 35-67, 12-30, and 11-15, respectively. The Pride would take 30 points from the bench, 18 of turnovers, and 46 in the paint.

WHAT'S NEXT
Purdue Northwest Men's Basketball will next be in action at home on Saturday, February 22 to take on the Lake Superior State Lakers and to honor their eight graduating seniors at Senior Day. The afternoon will also mark the induction of the Graegin Family, Stephanie Beck and Ben Simmons into the PNW Athletics Hall of Fame. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. (CST) following the women's game.