CANTON, Ohio -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-2 overall) took to the road for the first time this season on Sunday, but dropped an eight-point affair to Malone (2-0 overall) inside Osborne Hall, 74-66.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The first 20 minutes saw five of the game's six ties and nine of its 11 lead changes.  Neither team led by more than three points until a Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) jumper put Wayne State ahead by five 21-16 at the 11:08 mark.  Following a Malone free throw, Colin Golson, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Ferndale) gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the game at 23-17 thanks to a jumper in the paint.

The Pioneers answered with nine-straight points to regain a three-point advantage, 26-23.  From there until halftime, once again, neither squad was able to enlarge the margin more than three and the home team went into the locker room up three, 38-35.

Second Half
Out of the break, following the contest's 10th deadlock (43-43) and Wayne State's final advantage (47-46), the hosts utilized a 14-4 run to lead by nine, 60-51.  From there until the final buzzer, the closest Wayne State could get was five (60-55, 62-57) and Malone increased the margin to as large as 13 (72-59).

TEAM STATS
Wayne State dished out just four assists to 10 turnovers while Malone racked up 13 dimes to 11 giveaways.  From behind the arc, the Warriors converted two of their eight attempts and the Pioneers shot 9-of-24 from three-point land.  On the flip side of that, WSU outscored MU 50-34 on points in the paint.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Matt Coffey (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) scored a career/game-high 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting to go with eight rebounds in 26 minutes.  Coffey was one of three Warriors to score in double-figures along with Tamario Adley's (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) 15 and Williams, Jr.'s 11.  Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) tallied a pair of assists and was one of two players for WSU with a block, the other being Adley.  Harris and Williams, Jr. each finished with two steals.

LEADING THE PIONEERS
Simon scored a game-high 23 points followed by Tre Baumgardner III with 18 and Aaron Badibo with 12.  Badibo turned in a double-double thanks to 12 boards and Baumgardner III assisted on five of Malone's buckets.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Lewis (1-1 overall) on Saturday with the opening tip scheduled for 3 p.m. inside the WSU Fieldhouse.