SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (10-13 overall, 4-10 GLIAC) played its first double overtime game since November of 2019 and just the second one in the last 10 years on Thursday night.  However, Lake Superior State (17-6 overall, 9-4 GLIAC) hit a layup at the second overtime buzzer to hand the Warriors a defeat, 92-90.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Both teams traded three-pointers within the first minute of the game, with Devin Womack and sophomore guard Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) connecting from beyond the arc.  After a dunk from Kingsley Perkins made the score 5-3 LSSU, neither squad saw the scoreboard for nearly two minutes until a lay-up from Harris knotted the score at 5-5 with 16:59 left.

The lead would change hands three times over the course of the next 58 seconds, until a jumper from Harris once again put WSU ahead by three (11-8) five minutes in.  Wayne State would not trail for the rest of the half.  The guests nabbed an eight-point edge (16-8) after a three-pointer from freshman guard Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) with 13:22 remaining. 

WSU and LSSU traded several baskets between 11:29 and 10:24, before a five-point spurt from Womack on a lay-up and triple cut the hosts' deficit to four (21-17) with 9:16 to play.  Shots from freshman forward Hutch Ward (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Central) and senior guard/forward Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) gave the Warriors their nine-point edge back (26-17) at the 8:22 mark.  The Green and Gold's lead would stay around that number for the next three minutes.

Seven consecutive points from Lake Superior State between 6:28 and 3:11 closed Wayne State's lead to just two (30-28), and the Lakers tied the game at 32-32 via Hunter Soper's jumper with 1:40 remaining. 

However, the Warriors would not fall behind, as Harris and redshirt junior forward Colin Golson, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Ferndale (Siena/Eastern Michigan)) made shots to put the Green and Gold ahead by three (37-34) at the intermission.
 
Second Half
Harris and Golson, Jr. continued the scoring for the Warriors with the team's first seven points to begin the new stanza.  That gave the squad a nine-point edge (44-35) just over under 90 seconds in.  The visitors' lead would remain between seven and nine for much of the next segment of the game, until a three-pointer courtesy of freshman guard Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) with 13:37 to play extended the Green and Gold's advantage to double-digits at 10 (54-44). 

Harris (with two triples) and Ward (with a lay-up) gave the Warriors a 13-point lead heading into the final half of the second period.  Following a Williams, Jr. jump shot, the lead was still at 11 (66-55) with 7:38 left, as the Lakers were unable to put together an extended run due to WSU's responses on each LSSU basket.

With 3:27 to play in the game, sophomore center Matt Coffey (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) connected on a lay-up to keep Wayne State in front by 10 (73-63), but those were the final two points of the half for the Warriors.  Lake Superior State had a furious 10-0 run to close regulation and send the contest to overtime – the first time this season for the Green and Gold.  WSU had an opportunity to end the game after 40 minutes, but a wild sequence in the final 10 seconds saw LSSU nab three offensive rebounds, before Soper finally made a lay-up to knot the score at 73-73.
 
First Overtime
In a back and forth first overtime session, no lead was larger than three during the five-minute span.  A jumper by Tamario Adley put WSU ahead by three (82-79) with 80 seconds to play in the extra time, but Lee, Jr. missed a three-pointer that could have put the game away.  Williams, Jr. fouled Soper with the visitors ahead by one (82-81), and Soper went one-of-two at the charity stripe to send the affair to a second overtime.  Both teams scored nine points in the first OT.
 
Second Overtime
In Wayne State's first 2-OT game since November 8, 2019, vs. Ohio Dominican (an 87-86 loss), and the second such contest in over 10 years, the Lakers would tally the first four points of the period to move ahead 86-82 with 2:57 remaining.  Two free throws from Golson, Jr. and a jump shot from Briggs with 53 seconds to play tied the score once again at 86-86.  A pair of foul shots from Xander Okerlund put Lake Superior State in front by two (90-88) with 14 seconds on the clock.  Williams, Jr. scored on a lay-up for another tie (90-90).
 
A third overtime looked to be on the horizon, but a buzzer-beating lay-up by Peter Nwoke off a missed triple by Womack and an offensive rebound granted the hosts the two-point triumph.
 
TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 51 percent (35-of-68) from the floor, compared to an even 50 percent (35-of-70) from Lake Superior State.  WSU drained 11 of its 24 three-point tries (46 percent), which was better than LSSU's 10-of-29 (34 percent).  The Lakers struggled at the free throw line in making half of its shots (12-of-24), with the Warriors shooting just 10 foul shots and sinking nine (90 percent).  The rebounds were even (38-38), while the hosts had more assists (20-12) and steals (9-6).  The Lakers turned 14 Wayne State turnovers into 22 points.
 
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Harris contributed a game-best 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, but didn't score after the 8:52 mark of the second half.  Four other Warriors hit the double-figures mark, including Lee, Jr. (14), Adley (12), Golson, Jr. (11), and Williams, Jr. (11).  Williams, Jr.'s eight rebounds and Adley's five assists led the squad.
 
LEADING THE LAKERS
Okerlund provided a team-high 25 points, while also adding nine rebounds to lead all players.  Womack had 18 points and ended with a double-double by dishing out 10 assists (a game best).  Soper poured in 17 points as the other Laker in double figures.  Perkins was credited with all three of the team's blocked shots.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will finish its two-game road spurt in Big Rapids, Mich. against Ferris State.  Tip off is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday inside Jim Wink Arena.