Men's Basketball | 2/25/2015 2:45:00 PM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (5-19, 5-16 GLIAC) look to snap its three-game losing streak and end the season on a high note as it travels to Findlay (15-10, 12-9 GLIAC) for a Thursday night contest.

STORYLINES
WSU will close out the regular season at Findlay on Thursday. The Oilers have secured their spot in the GLIAC Tournament but are now fighting for a higher seed. Head coach David Greer will look to end a disappointing season on a high note. The Warriors dropped six games by five points or less and six more contests by nine points or less. Coach Greer will then turn his attention to the 2015-16 season where he will have  90 percent of the minutes played and 93 percent of the scoring in 2014-15 expected to return next season. In addition, 74 percent of total minutes played in 2014-15 were by underclassmen (3,592 of 4,875).

THE SERIES
Findlay leads the all-time series 26-17. The Oilers won the season's first matchup in overtime, 71-67, on Feb. 2. Since 2006, WSU and Findlay have played four overtime affairs including a double overtime contest in Detroit on Jan. 14, 2006, and a triple-overtime game in Detroit on Feb. 13, 2010. The two teams have also met twice in the GLIAC Semifinals (3/5/11 and 3/3/12). The Warriors won the 2011 semifinal game. Coach Greer is 7-22 versus the Oilers and has never won on the road in the series.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Heading into the final weekend of GLIAC regular-season games, Findlay is the sixth seed at 15-10 overall and 12-9 in league contests. The Oilers have won seven of their last eight games. Charlie Ernst is in his fourth season (85-31) as head coach and led UF to a 24-6 record last season. Senior forward Jake Heagen leads the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game and rebounding at 5.7 boards per game. Junior guard Dylan 
Kaufman is averaging 11.5 points per game. Junior forward John Staley leads the league in field goal percentage at 65.6 percent. As a team, Findlay is allowing the fourth fewest points per game at 66.5 points.

CLOSE CALLS
For the second time in three seasons, WSU has lost three overtime games in a year.  The only other season with three overtime defeats was 2003-04.

LAST TIME OUT
The WSU men's basketball squad suffered an 86-77 setback at Walsh University on Feb. 21 in North Canton, Ohio.

A second-chance hoop by the Cavaliers on the first possession of the second half extended their lead to 15.  Walsh still had a 15-point advantage (52-37) with just under 15 minutes left in the game before the Warriors responded with a 12-4 run to pull within seven at 56-49.  Bishop keyed the run with eight points.

Wayne State was not able to get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Besides Clark Bishop's career-high 27 points, which included a 10-for-10 performance from the charity stripe, Gavin Toma contributed 19 points.  Michael Lewis grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and added 13 points, while Marcus Moore chipped in with a team-best five assists, seven rebounds and six points.

Rian Burrell led Walsh with a team-high 18 points off the bench to lead five Cavaliers in double figures.

Walsh attempted 42 foul shots compared to 23 for Wayne State, while WSU actually led in field goals made 26-24 amd both squads made six triples.

REMATCHES
The WSU men's basketball squad suffered its third overtime setback of the season with a 71-67 loss to Findlay on Feb. 2  at the Matthaei.
 
It was a back-and-forth first half with 10 lead changes, three ties and the biggest lead was five (Findlay 29-24 at intermission). It was a back-and-forth first half with 10 lead changes, three ties and the biggest lead was five (Findlay 29-24 at intermission). A jumper by Gavin Toma made it a four-point lead and Michael Lewis extended the margin to six with a lay-up with 1:49 left.  The Warriors would not score for the rest of regulation or the first three minutes of overtime. Meanwhile, Findlay which made 12 triples and nine two-point baskets, had Elijah Kahlig hit back-to-back three pointers in the final 90 seconds to send the game into the extra session.

Jake Heagen made two foul shots with 4.7 on the clock before Clark Bishop drained a long triple with just over a second remaining to make it a two-point game (69-67). Findlay's Dylan Kaufman, who tallied a game-high 22 points, made both foul shots to complete the scoring.  Kaufman made six triples.  Ricardo Smith led UF with a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Toma totaled 20 points for WSU, while Bishop added 16 points and Chuck Key contributed 11 points off the bench.  Both Key and Daniel Ball finished with a team-best seven rebounds.

THE BEAT GOES ON
David Greer is in his 14th season at the helm of the Warrior basketball program during the 2014-15 academic year.   He is the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history and collected his 200th win as Wayne State topped Tiffin on Feb. 5, 2015.  Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 201-178 record, was voted the 2012-13 GLIAC Coach of the Year by his peers.  Greer coached his 300th WSU (non-exhibition) game vs. Northwood on Feb. 11, 2012, and his 200th GLIAC game vs. Grand Valley State on Feb. 18, 2012.   Coach Greer passed Joel Mason for second place in victories with his 187th win in the victory over Ohio Dominican on Dec. 7, 2013.

NEELY INDUCTED INTO EMU HALL OF FAME
Current and longtime assistant coach Lorenzo Neely was inducted in the E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame.  The Eastern Michigan University E-Club Alumni Chapter, the official varsity athletic letterwinners club, announced Neely as well as six other former standouts who were enshrined at the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, Oct. 24. Neely is entering his 11th season with the WSU men's basketball program, all spent with head coach David Greer, and has been a collegiate coach for the past 16 years.  He finished his Huron career with 1,528 points, 433 free throws, 317 rebounds, and his 521 assists rank second in EMU's all-time record book.  Neely served as an assistant men's basketball coach at EMU for two seasons including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998.

COMCAST/XFINITY
The final six men's and women's basketball home games were broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Sean Baligian, Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson brought you all the action.

WDTK - THE PATRIOT
Russ McNamara called all of the men's action this season on WDTK - The Patriot (92.7 FM / 1400 AM).  Fans can also listen online at WDTKAM.com.  WSU Hall of Famer Cliff Russell will return to provide his insights for each home game.