DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (1-2 Overall) continued its challenging non-conference schedule on Tuesday night against third-ranked Bellarmine (4-0 Overall) but were unable to upset the Knights, falling 65-50. The Warriors trailed by 15 at halftime but trimmed the Knights lead to 43-39 at the 11:53 mark of the second half. However, a long scoring drought by the home team stalled the comeback attempt as Bellarmine won by that same 15-point margin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The game started slowly with the Wayne State defense setting the tone early. A runner from
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) gave the Warriors a 6-5 lead at the 13:46 mark.Â
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) found space to knock down a 12-foot jumper and keep the deficit at two, 12-10, with 10:31 left before halftime. However, the Knights would use a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 22-10 lead at the eight-minute point. Bellarmine controlled the tempo the rest of the stanza and led 33-18 at intermission.
- The Warriors came out of the locker room and began to chip away at the visitors' lead. A
Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) layup and a bucket from Key cut the deficit to 11. Booth connected from just inside the arc and
George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) knocked down a triple, pulling the Green & Gold to within eight, 38-30 with 15:45 remaining. BU regained control and led 43-31 at the 14:20 mark but WSU answered with an 8-0 run to cut the Knights' advantage to four, 43-39, with 11:53 to play. A five-minute long scoring drought stalled the comeback attempt as Bellarmine led 52-41 at the seven-minute mark when a Booth jumper ended the drought. Bellarmine cruised a 65-50 victory to improve to 4-0.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
- Both Key and Booth finished with 15 points, while Key notched his first double-double of the season with a career-high 13 rebounds.
LEADING THE KNIGHTS
- Three Knights scored at least 10 points led by Ben Weyer's 16 points.
UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Lewis for a Saturday game against the Flyers. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m.