BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – A lackluster 25-point, first-half performance was just too much to overcome for the Purdue Northwest men's basketball team in an 89-75 loss at Ferris State on Friday afternoon.

The Pride (7-8, 7-8 GLIAC) battled throughout the second half outscoring the Bulldogs (8-8, 7-6 GLIAC) 50-48 at Jim Wink Arena.

PNW amassed just a 34.8 shooting percentage in the decisive first half including a 2 for 8 performance from behind the arc, but finally found a better scoring rhythm in the second half shooting 17 for 27 (63 percent) including 7 for 11 from behind the arc.

"Ferris was better than us today," said PNW head coach Boomer Roberts. "I didn't do a good job getting our team ready to complete, so that's on me. I'm thankful and looking forward to another game tomorrow."

The Pride were led by a pair of 15-point performances from Mikell Cooper and Vincent Miszkiewicz. Anthony Barnard added 11 points as did Logan Phillips off the bench.

Barnard knocked down a three-pointer just 29 seconds into the game, but the Pride would go on a drought that lasted more than four minutes before Miszkiewicz knocked down a jumper to give PNW a 5-4 lead.

The Pride had a strong defensive effort for nearly the first 10 minutes of the opening half with a 12-10 lead before the Bulldogs upped their efforts offensively outscoring PNW 31-13 the rest of the half.

Down 43-27 early in the second half, Miszkiewicz would tally nine points in a 16-7 run for the Pride that spanned just over three minutes of game action.

PNW would get as close as 64-60 with 9:21 remaining in the game, but Ferris State used timely shooting and a strong rebounding effort to eventually blow the game open at the end.

The Bulldogs easily won the rebounding category 42-24 including a 15-2 advantage in offensive rebounds. That is a trend reversal of how the Pride usually perform on the boards.

Ben Davidson came off the bench and led the Bulldogs in scoring with 24 and was followed closely by Walt Kelser with 22 points and 10 assists to complete the double-double performance.

Cooper would notch eight assists for the Pride while Miszkiewicz led the team in rebounding with seven caroms.

With the loss, PNW falls to fourth place in the GLIAC North Division and two games out of first place that is currently shared by Michigan Tech and Parkside, who both hold 9-6 records.

NEXT UP
Both teams will return to Jim Wink Arena to conclude the weekend slate with tipoff set for 3 p.m. CST in a critical matchup as the GLIAC regular season winds down.