SAULT STE. MARIE - No. 3 seed Ferris State survived a brilliant comeback by top-seed Lake Superior State and held on to win 87-82 Sunday and claim its first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship since 1998.

Ferris State (23-8), which shot a combined 38.9 percent from the field during two regular-season losses to the 22nd-ranked Lakers, made six three-pointers during the first 9 1/2 minutes and took off to a 31-8 lead.

Lake Superior State (25-6) eventually settled down and cut the lead to 14 points at halftime, 49-35.

FSU was 7-of-12 from behind the arc and shot 53.1 percent during the first half. The Bulldogs were held to one three-pointer and shot 28 percent during the second half.

It took quite awhile for LSSU to get an impressive crowd of 958 spectators back into the game. Cooper Gym erupted when a Jake Blake steal led to a Devin Daly dunk at 15:34, and Jordan Dasuqi followed canned a three-pointer at 15:04, cutting FSU's lead to nine points, 53-44.

Daly made a jumper and Alex Williams a three-pointer to trim Ferris State's lead to 65-64 with 6:28 remaining. Dasuqi tied it, 66-66, with two free throws.

LSSU also tied the score 73-73 with 3:38 to go, but never took a lead. Two missed layups inside the three-minute mark enabled Ferris State to extend its slim lead to four points. FSU was 10-of-12 at the free-throw line to protect its lead as LSSU continued to threaten during the final minute.

Daly led LSSU with a career-high tying 22 points and eight rebounds. Tony Harris followed with 17 points, and Alex Williams had 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for his first double double of the season. Akaemji Williams scored 12 points and Dasuqi 10.

LSSU shot 45.5 percent from the field, including 6-of-21 from three-point range, and made 26-of-34 free throws. The Lakers out-rebounded FSU, 40-34.

Drew Lehman led FSU with 38 points, and Jibreel Jackson followed with 10. Ferris State shot 42.1 percent from the field for the game, including 8-of-17 from three-point range, and made 31-of-44 free throws.

Lehman was named GLIAC Tournament most-valuable player. LSSU's Daly, Alex Williams and Harris made the all-tournament team, along with FSU's Jared Stolicker and Josh Fleming.

LSSU entered the week as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Midwest Region and is expected to earn a bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Bids will be announced at 10:30 p.m. Sunday on NCAA.com. Bellarmine was the predicted No. 1 seed and regional host, but was upset by Drury, 77-70, during the Great Lakes Valley Conference finals.

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