Men's Basketball | 12/6/2016 3:37:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (5-1, 2-0 GLIAC) will take its five-game winning streak on the road for a Thursday meeting at Tiffin (3-5. 0-2 GLIAC) and a Saturday clash at Ashland (6-1, 2-0 GLIAC).

STORYLINES
The Warriors and their five-game winning streak will embark on their first GLIAC road trip of the season this week, playing games at Tiffin on Thursday and Ashland on Saturday.  The last time, Wayne State won five straight games was during the early part of the 2012-13 season.  WSU also won seven consecutive contests that season on its way to a 17-10 (16-6 GLIAC) record.

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads 15-3 in the all-time series against Tiffin.  WSU won the first 11 meetings in the series dating back to 1986.  The teams have split the past four matchups, with each side winning a home and a road game.  WSU is 7-2 at Tiffin and Coach Greer is 13-3 all-time vs. the Dragons.

WSU leads 29-24 in the all-time series against Ashland.  However, the Eagles have won the five most recent meetings including two by a single point.  Ashland has been ranked in the top 25 each of the last two contests in the series.  Wayne State is 10-15 inside Kates Gymnasium and Coach Greer is 16-14 vs. AU.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Tiffin enters the week at 3-5 overall after dropping its first two GLIAC games, including a 102-93 thriller at Lake Superior State.  Head coach Jerry Buccilla is in his fourth season leading the Dragons.  Junior guard Tony Kynard leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game, while senior guard Juwan Johnson (12.9 PPG) and junior guard Alex Brown (11.1) are also offensive threats.  TU is averaging 76.8 points per night as a team and allowing 74.5.

Ashland is off to a 6-1 start after winning its first two league games at Northwood and at Lake Superior State.  The win over Northwood was a nail-biter as AU trailed 63-57 before scoring seven unanswered points to steal the one-point victory.  Head coach John Ellenwood is in his eighth season at the helm.  Sophomore guard and former GLIAC Newcomer of the Year at Malone, Ben Haraway leads the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game, while senior guard Adrian Cook is scoring 12.9 points per night.  Junior forward Marsalis Hamilton is pulling down 7.6 rebounds per game, which is the fifth-best total in the GLIAC.  As a team, the Eagles are averaging 76.6 points per game, while allowing 67.1.

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State played a complete game in its 76-55 win over Hillsdale.  Chuck Key was an offensive force the entire afternoon and a 10-foot jumper from the junior forward put the Warriors up comfortably 17-4 with 11:46 left to play.  An 11-1 run from Hillsdale cut its deficit to four (19-15) at the 7:12 mark.  The contest was tied at 24-24 with three minutes on the clock but the Warriors ended the half on a 9-2 run, including seven points from Key, to take a 33-26 lead at the break.  Michael Lewis found room underneath the basket on an inbounds play and the basket gave the Green & Gold a 43-34 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.  Another Lewis bucket gave the Warriors a 52-38 lead and he completed the three-point play to give WSU its largest lead (15 at 53-38) at that point.  A Nick Archer trey brought the Chargers within nine at 53-44 at the 7:18 mark, but WSU answered with four quick points to regain a 13-point lead with 6:27 remaining.  A three-pointer from Ryan Badowski pulled HC within eight at 59-51, but the Warriors ended the game on a 17-4 run to cruise to a 76-55 win.

COACHING MILESTONE
With the win on Saturday over Hillsdale, David Greer became the winningest coach in the 99 years of Wayne State men's basketball.  He passed his predecessor Ron Hammye's mark of 212 victories, which he collected in his 13 seasons (1988-01).

FAST STARTS
After beginning the 2014-15 season 0-4 and the 2015-16 campaign 0-5, the Warriors are off to a fast start at 5-1 (also won at Detroit Mercy in an exhibition matchup).  Wayne State began the 2013-14 season 5-1, 2012-13 season 5-1, 2011-12 season 8-1, and the 2010-11 season 9-1.

WHO TO WATCH
Junior forward Chuck Key's career-high 25 points powered the Green & Gold to its fifth straight win on Dec. 3rd.  He collected eight rebounds against the Chargers.

LOPSIDED WINS
Three of WSU's five wins have been by at least 19 points.

OVERTIME STRUGGLES
The 74-70 overtime win over Lewis on Nov. 26th was the first overtime victory since a 69-64 triumph at Grand Valley State on Feb. 1, 2014, after losing four consecutive OT games.  WSU did not play an overtime game last season and is 4-7 during the past four seasons in such games.

DIVISION SWITCH
Wayne State began league play last week and returned to the North Division amongst the majority of its in-state rivals.  WSU and Hillsdale trade spots in each division every two years.  Last season, four of the eight GLIAC Tournament teams came from the North.

ROAD WOES
Wayne State will look to overcome what has been a hurdle in past seasons, winning on the road.  Over the past 16 seasons under head coach David Greer, Wayne State has just four winning road records.  In total, WSU is 70-120 (.368) away from the Matthaei in true road games.

CAN THEY KEEP IT UP?
The solid shooting by the Green & Gold has obviously powered its 5-1 start but WSU is on a historic pace in terms of the program's record book.  Currently, Wayne State is shooting at a .493 clip, which would be the highest since the 1993-94 team shot nearly 52 percent.

NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA stats release, WSU ranks 13th in scoring defense (63.7), 22nd in turnovers forced per game (18.0), 32nd in opponent field-goal percentage (.399) and 44th in field-goal percentage (.493).  Ronald Booth ranks 17th nationally in steaLS per game (2.83). 

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game beginning in 2017 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN 900.  Sean Baligian, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will call the action. 

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on the radio on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also stream the action online newstalk1400.us.  Joining Kevin for home games will be WSU alum Kendall LeSure, who played at Wayne State from 2000-04 and scored 1,068 points during his career.