ASHLAND, Ohio -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (8-17 overall, 7-13 GLIAC) concluded its season at No. 23 Ashland (23-5 overall, 15-5 GLIAC) and the Warriors played tough but fell 70-63.  The back-and-forth contest featured 14 ties and 14 lead changes.

The Warriors did not qualify for next week's 2019 GLIAC Tournament after playing in the playoffs each of the last two seasons.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams started slowly on offense and the Eagles led 2-0 on a Ben Haraway layup at the 18:12 layup.  A Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan) jumper gave WSU a 6-2 advantage with 16:39 to play before halftime.  Another jumper from Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) kept the Green & Gold on top 10-7 at the 14:55 mark.  AU tied the game at 12-12 on a Derek Koch three-pointer with 13:29 left in the half but a Tristan Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) three-point play on a dunk swung the lead back to the Warriors.  Wayne State led 19-18 at the 8:43 mark.  Two Xavier Cochran (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) free throws brought WSU within one, 22-21, with just under five minutes remaining before halftime and a triple from Darian Owens-White (Ypsilanti, Mich. / River Rouge) tied the game at 24-24.  Both sides continued to trade baskets and the contest was tied again at the 5:34 mark, following a 12-foot jumper by Owens-White.  The game remained tied at 32-32 upon the arrival of intermission as neither team scored over the final 1:30.

Cochran started the scoring in the second half with a trey, giving the visitors a 35-34 lead at the 19:04 mark.  Javon Henderson (Detroit, Mich. / University Prep) gave WSU a 41-38 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.  Henderson grabbed an offensive rebound and kept WSU up by three, 47-44, with a layup at the 12:20 mark.  Following a tip-in by Timothy Huguley (Detroit, Mich. / Old Redford Academy) and a jumper from Davis gave the Warriors a 51-49 lead with nine minutes left in regulation.  A triple from Rodrick Caldwell pushed the home lead to 56-51 at the 7:31 mark.  The 10-0 AU run gave the Eagles a 59-51 advantage.  Ashland's offense continued to click and a Drew Noble bucket pushed the margin to eight, 63-55, at the 4:25 mark.  Davis connected from behind the arc to cut the home lead to 65-60 with 60 seconds to play.  Ashland held off the late charge to win 70-63.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Four Warriors scored at least in double figures, led by 18 from Murray.  Cochran tallied 13, while Owens-White had 12 and Davis chipped in 11 points.

LEADING THE EAGLES
Aaron Thompson scored a game-high 19 points to go with 13 boards, while Noble finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.  Caldwell scored 17 points and Koch posted a 10-point performance.

TEAM STATS
The Eagles out-scored the Warriors 38-20 in the paint and 16-5 in points off turnovers.  Wayne State shot 36 percent (24-of-66) from the floor compared to Ashland's 40 percent (26-of-64) field goal percentage.