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Men's Basketball 12/8/2021 9:01:00 AM Cameron Weidenthaler, Assistant Media Relations Director

Men's Hoops Hosts Northwood on Saturday

The Warriors have just two games left in 2021.

STORYLINES
After a tough 0-2 week to start the GLIAC portion of its schedule, Wayne State will host Northwood on Saturday inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse. The Warriors are looking to avenge two losses to the Timberwolves last season in Midland.

THE SERIES
The Warriors lead 44-33 in the all-time series against Northwood, including a 26-12 record in Detroit. The Timberwolves won both meetings last season in Midland, including a buzzer-beater the second night by Jack Ammerman. The teams have split the last six match-ups.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Northwood is 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the GLIAC after beating Northern Michigan (81-72), but falling to Michigan Tech (98-75). Head coach Lonnie Griffin is in his second season at the helm. Senior guard Jack Ammerman leads the roster in scoring at 18.6 points per game, while senior Trevor Davis is averaging 12.0 points per night and sophomore DeSean Munson is at 11.7 points per contest. Sophomore Maurion Scott is adding 11.3 points per game. Munson is the team's top rebounder with 7.3 boards per night, while Davis leads the team with 4.2 assists per game. As a team, NU is scoring 77.6 points per night and allowing 85.4 points per game. The T-Wolves are shooting 50 percent from the floor, 74 percent from the charity stripe and 43 percent from long range (48-of-113).

LAST TIME OUT
Wayne State started GLIAC play by going 0-2 on the road at Davenport and Grand Valley State. On Dec. 2nd at DU, the Warriors led 29-20 midway through the first half and 33-31 at halftime. However, the Panthers out-scored WSU 40-26 in the second half to win 71-59. Avery Lewis scored a game-high 19 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists. Ray Williams, Jr. contributed 12 points and game-best totals of eight rebounds and four steals. Darian Owens-White added 11 points and three assists.

The Green & Gold also started strong on Dec. 4th at GVSU. The Warriors led 27-21 with three minutes to play in the first half and held onto a 10-point advantage (33-23) at the break. However, the Lakers shot 50 percent, compared to 35 percent for WSU in the second half to win 70-63. Darian Owens-White led all scorers with 22 points, while Avery Lewis chipped in with 19 points. David Hughes grabbed a season-best 10 rebounds.

FIRST HALF WARRIORS
WSU led at halftime in both games last week (33-31 at DU and 33-23 at GVSU) but were unable to hold onto those advantages. In addition, Wayne State has led in four of the five games this season.

HOME GLIAC OPENERS
Wayne State is 8-2 in the first home GLIAC game of the season during the past 10 seasons.

WAYNE STATE FIELDHOUSE
Wayne State opened its brand new basketball fieldhouse against Michigan in an exhibition contest on Nov. 5th in front of a sold out crowd. The night featured several special moments including a pre-game ceremony that featured basketball alumni (Bob Holmes and Shareta Brown) and coaches (Ron Hammye, David Greer and Carrie Lohr), University president Dr. M. Roy Wilson, and Detroit Pistons Vice Chair Arn Tellem. Halftime featured a performance from Spyder Turner. Several community and University leaders were on hand, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and the WSU Board of Governors.

1,000-POINT SCORER
Brailen Neely entered this season with 993 career points combined between his time at Oakland and now as a Warrior. With 21 points at Ashland on Nov. 12, he surpassed the 1,000-point plateau, which includes 795 points for the Green & Gold.

2021 POSTSEASON AWARDS
Last season, Darian Owens-White was a First Team All-Midwest District and a First Team All-GLIAC honoree, while Brailen Neely was a Second Team All-Region and a First Team All-GLIAC selection. Owens-White was the first Wayne State student-athlete to be voted to the NABC All-District First Team since Tony Goins in 1998-99. Avery Lewis earned Second Team All-GLIAC recognition, while also being a member of the league's All-Defensive Team.

It was the first time WSU had two First Team All-GLIAC selections since Mike Hollingsworth and Bryan Smothers collected the awards following the 2010-11 season.

NEW SHOT CALLER
Wayne State has a new man in the first chair for the first time since the 2000-01 season in interim head coach E.J. Haralson. This comes after the program's winningest coach David Greer announced his retirement on Nov. 17th.

FRESHMAN BIG MAN
Freshman forward David Hughes has been impressive when on the court this season. He totaled six points and nine rebounds vs. Hillsdale and then grabbed a season-best 10 rebounds at Grand Valley State. Hughes has 25 rebounds and 10 points with two steals in 55 minutes of action through four games played (did not play at Ashland in the season opener).

DANCING IN MARCH
The Green & Gold played in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history a year ago, and for the first time since 2013. Head coach David Greer guided Wayne State to the national tournament on five occasions (2004, 2005, 2011, 2013 and 2021). The last time WSU won a game in the NCAAs was in 2005 when the Warriors topped Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 56-55, in Findlay, Ohio.

GLIAC CHAMPS
The Green & Gold won its eighth GLIAC championship last year and its first outright GLIAC regular-season title since the 1998-99 season. Following that 1998-99 season, WSU topped Saginaw Valley State, Gannon and Michigan Tech to win the tournament title.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every Wayne State contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every regular season home game, will be available to stream pay-per-view via Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.

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Players Mentioned

#44 David Hughes: F; 6' 7"; Freshman

#33 Avery Lewis: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Junior

#11 Brailen Neely: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Fifth Year

#14 Darian Owens-White: G; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.: G/F; 6' 5"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#44 David Hughes
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: F

#33 Avery Lewis
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#11 Brailen Neely
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Fifth Year
: G

#14 Darian Owens-White
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: G/F