FERRIS STATE 79, PARKSIDE 77

The Rangers fell in their final game in DeSimone this season against the Ferris State Bulldogs. Blair Arthur led the all scorers tonight with 28 points. The Bulldogs' Adrienne Anderson hit a buzzer-beating layup after Shelby Cheston went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line on the other end.

Today, the team honored it's seven seniors for their hard-work and dedication to Parkside Athletics as they have helped to leave a Ranger Impact on this program.

HEAR FROM COACH CONELY
"What a great game to watch- unfortunately we came up short today," first year head coach Jen Conely said. "It was great to see us execute offensively down the stretch. I was excited to see us make big plays when we needed them- Blair's 3 and Shelby's free throws were clutch. We haven't been in those kind of situations this year. This will definitely give us the confidence we need when we are put in that kind of pressure situation again. We are continuing to put it all together and I think we will be playing our best at the right time." 
 
"We are so grateful to honor our seven seniors tonight. They are such a great group and I look forward to coaching and being around them every day," Conely added. "They've made such a positive impact on our program and I really couldn't have asked for a better group to work with my first year as head coach. Obviously, today we are celebrating what they've done for our program, but we aren't done yet. We have one more regular season game and will fight to extend our season as long as we can."

DOWN THE STRETCH

The Rangers held their largest lead at 8:47 of the third quarter with 12 points, but as the quarter ended the Bulldogs closed the gap to one point with a score of 56-55. Parkside went on a 6-0 run to take a 62-59 lead with 7:00 to play in the game, but Ferris State battled back took the lead with 2:40 remaining and didn't let Parkside lead again.

With :09 left on the clock, Arthur tied the game with a shot from beyond the arc after a Rangers' timeout 75-75.  As Ferris State regained the lead with :03 seconds on the clock,  Shelby Cheston made two major free throws, tying the game again at 77-77. The Bulldogs called timeout to advance the ball across half court, and Anderson caught the ball and finished a baseline layup to win it for Ferris State.

STATWORTHY

Arthur led both teams with 28 points followed by Ali  Bettencourt with 16 and Carolina Rahkonen with 15. Rahkonen grabbed seven rebounds for the Rangers and Stephen had six assists. As a team, Ferris State outrebounded Parkside 51-23 and only allowed the Rangers to get one offensive board the whole game.
Parkside got a huge lift from beyond the arc, going 9-for-19 while the Bulldogs only made a pair of triples.

WHAT'S NEXT

On Feb. 28, the Rangers travel to Purdue Northwest to wrap-up GLIAC play for the 2018-19 season before taking part in their first GLIAC Championship beginning the week of March 5-10.