Courtesy of Cameron Weidenthaler, Wayne State Assistant Media Relations Director
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (5-1, 2-0 GLIAC) won its fifth consecutive game on Saturday (Dec. 3) afternoon with a 76-55 win over Hillsdale (4-4, 0-2 GLIAC). With the win head coach David Greer became the winningest coach in the 99 years of men's basketball at Wayne State. Greer passes Ron Hammye's program record of 212 victories, which he collected in his 13 seasons (1988-01).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wayne State jumped out to an 8-2 lead following a Ronald jumper at the 17:42 mark of the first half. Michael Lewis extended the home lead to 13-2 with a three-pointer at the 13:11 mark. Chuck Key was an offensive force in the opening stanza and a 10-foot jumper from the junior forward kept the Warriors up comfortably 17-4 with 11:46 left to play. An 11-1 run from Hillsdale cut the deficit to four at 19-15 at the 7:12 mark. HC's Nate Neveau was fouled on a three-point attempt and connected on all three free throws to pull the Chargers within one at 22-21 with 4:32 left to play. 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.
- Booth connected on a triple to open the scoring in the second half at the 18:27 mark. Key spun into the paint and banked in a tough shot as he was fouled. Following the bucket, a technical foul was assessed to the Hillsdale bench. Booth hit both technical free throws before Key completed the three-point play to give WSU a 41-29 lead. The Chargers slowed WSU's momentum with a quick 4-0 spurt to trim their deficit to eight, 41-33, at the 15:23 mark. 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.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- WSU won the battle on the blocks all afternoon and outscored HC 32-16 in the paint and out-rebounded the Chargers 36-24. The Warriors shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) during the first half.
KEY'S MONSTER GAME
- Key powered WSU's offense with a career-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds, one assist, a blocked shot and a steal.
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 8-1, and the 2010-11 season 9-1.
UP NEXT
- Wayne State will travel to Tiffin on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. contest. You can listen to the action on WDTK (1400 AM / 101.5 FM) beginning around 7:15 p.m.
