DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (6-15 overall, 3-14 GLIAC) will play its final two road games of the season this week beginning on Thursday night at Northwood (14-11 overall, 9-8 GLIAC)  before finishing the trip at Saginaw Valley State (14-11 overall, 8-9 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
Wayne State ended a 12-game losing streak with a comeback overtime victory over Purdue Northwest on Feb. 13th and won again over Parkside on Feb. 15th.  The extra-session triumph was WSU's first home win of the season and the first overtime win since Feb. 3, 2018, at Tiffin.  With three games left, the Warriors will look to sprint through the finish line beginning on Thursday night at Northwood and then on Saturday afternoon at Saginaw Valley State.

THE SERIES
The Warriors lead 43-31 in the all-time series against Northwood, including a 16-18 record on the road.  The teams began playing in 1975 and WSU has a 32-27 advantage in GLIAC meetings.  Wayne State has won four of the last seven matchups, but the Timberwolves escaped the Matthaei with a 73-71 victory earlier this season.  Head coach David Greer is 16-14 (5-9 on the road) vs. NU in his time with WSU.

Wayne State trails 36-41 in the all-time series against Saginaw Valley State, with a 14-23 mark on the road.  SVSU has won eight of the last 10 contests in the series, including the last four.  The Cardinals came to Detroit on Jan. 23rd and won 71-57 earlier this season.  Coach Greer is 14-15 (5-9 on the road) all-time vs. SVSU.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Northwood enters the week at 14-11 overall and 9-8 in the GLIAC.  The Timberwolves have won six of their last seven games, including wins over Michigan Tech, #17-Ferris State and #18-Grand Valley State.  Head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his 10th season leading the program.  Senior guard Trey McBride is leading Northwood in scoring (12.3 PPG) and rebounding (5.4) , while senior forward Bruno Solomun is pulling down 5.3 rebounds per night.  Senior guard Jack Ammerman is making nearly 38 percent of his three-point attempts and averaging 11.2 points per contest, while sophomore guard Ja'Kavien Lewis is dishing out 4.4 assists per contest to lead the squad and chipping in 11 points per night.  As a team, Northwood is averaging 68.2 points and allowing 69.2 points per game.

Saginaw Valley State has dropped four straight contests, three of them in the road, including two to nationally-ranked FSU and GVSU.  SVSU is one five teams vying for four playoff spots and will start the week by hosting  red-hot Ashland on Thursday night before hosting the Warriors.  Head coach Randy Baruth is in his eighth season leading the program.  Sophomore guard Myles Belyeu is one of the better scorers in the league at 21.1 points per night, along with a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest.  In addition, he passed the 1,000-point mark with 24 points at Davenport last Saturday.  Junior guard Malik Ellison is averaging 17.4 points per game, while junior guard Darnell Hoskins, Jr. is scoring 9.4 points per matchup.  As a team, the Cards are averaging 73.2 points and allowing 72.6 points per night.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
Wayne State trailed 35-25 at halftime against Purdue Northwest on Feb. 13th.  It was looking bleak late in the second half as the Pride led by 14, 66-52, with 4:58 remaining.  The Warriors stormed back with a 16-3 run to trim deficit to one, 69-68 at the 32-second mark.  Brailen Neely kept it a one-point game, 71-70, with a layup with eight seconds left on the clock.  With time expiring, Antonio Marshall was fouled behind the arc and converted one of his three free throw attempts to tie the game at 71-71.  However, Marshall redeemed himself with a triple from the elbow to give WSU an 80-78 lead at the 1:31 mark.  Anthony Barnard made one of his two free throws to cut the Warrior lead to one (80-79) and Purdue Northwest could not take advantage of a home turnover.  Game-winning attempts from Durante Lee and Barnard drew only iron and the Warriors collected a thrilling one-point victory.

WSU notched its second win in as many games with a 64-51 victory over Parkside last Saturday.  The Warriors led 35-28 at halftime and outscored the Rangers 29-23 in the second half to secure the victory.  Brailen Neely led WSU with a game-high 21 points to go with eight assists, while Antonio Marshall finished with 14 points.  Nate Talbot finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.  James Gordon collected his fifth double-double of the campaign with 10 points and 11 boards.

DOUBLE FIGURE SCORERS
Four Warrior starters (Neely, Marshall, Talbot, Gordon) scored at least 10 points in the win over Parkside last Saturday.  It was the first time that Wayne State accomplished that in a victory since the Hillsdale contest on Nov. 27th.  Ironically, WSU had at least four starters in double figures in five previous games, including all five at Lake Superior State, but the Green & Gold lost all five of those games.

CLOSE GAMES
In 15 of the 21 games this season, Wayne State was leading, tied or trailed by less than four points with under five minutes to play.  The Warriors are 2-5 in games decided by three points or fewer, including a trio of overtime games.  The seven games that do not meet those standards were Michigan Tech, Purdue Northwest, Saginaw Valley State, Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Davenport.

GLIAC WEEKLY HONOR
Senior guard Brailen Neely became the first Warrior (man or woman) to earn GLIAC Player of the Week honors this season.  He scored 28 points against Purdue Northwest as WSU snapped a 12-game losing streak with a comeback overtime victory.  Neely also tallied nine assists, three rebounds and two steals, while draining four three-pointers.  The Warriors cruised past Parkside last Saturday as Neely finished with 21 points, eight assists and four rebounds.

TORCHING THE NET 
On Jan. 11th vs. 18th-ranked Grand Valley State, Brailen Neely recorded his second 30-plus point effort of the season finishing with 32 points.  Neely had 33 points in the GLIAC opener at Ferris State in December.  Last year (2018-19), Javon Henderson had two 30-point outings (31 at Purdue Northwest and 36 vs. Davenport).  The last time prior to Henderson, a Warrior had at least two 30+-games in a season was 2006-07 when Kris Krzyminski had four such affairs.  Krzyminski tallied 34 and 41 points against Gannon, 32 vs. Clarion and 38 against Hillsdale.

ASSIST RECORDS
Brailen Neely's 17 assists at Purdue Northwest on Jan. 18th is the most in program history.  He surpassed a 15-assist performance from Darrell Evans on Feb. 17, 2005, vs. Ashland.  Evans also had the second-highest mark of 13 vs. Findlay (2/14/05), along with Grady Wicker against Northwood (2/9/80).  Neely has 170 helpers this season, which ranks third all-time.  The season record is 232 by Evans in 2004-05 and Neely needs 31 assists to pass Terrance Walker (1993-94) for second place.  Additionally, Neely is currently averaging 8.1 assists per contest to lead the league.  That would be the high mark in program history if the season ended today.

GREER BACK FOR 19TH SEASON
Head coach David Greer is in his 19th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He equaled the school record for years as head men's basketball coach last season, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench.  The win at Hillsdale on Nov. 27, 2019, was his 250th at Wayne State.  The game on Jan. 30th vs. Lake Superior State was his 500th at Wayne State.

NEW BASKETBALL ARENA 
In May of 2019, it was announced that WSU Athletics and the Detroit Pistons would be partnering to construct a $25 million basketball arena on the west side of the athletic campus.

The approved plan includes construction of a 70,000 square-foot arena near the intersection of Warren and Trumbull avenues with seating capacity for approximately 3,000 fans, office space and locker room areas for both WSU's men's and women's basketball teams, a concessions area and other ancillary spaces.  The arena will be ready for play in the 2021-2022 basketball season.

The Pistons G-League team will also call the new facility home.

WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
Every home women's and men's basketball game can be seen live on Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com.  A 24-hour pass is $5.95, while a monthly re-occurring subscription is $9.95 and a yearly pass is $69.95.  Every game is archived in the on-demand section.  All home football, volleyball, basketball, softball and baseball games will be available on the channel.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standout Mike Lewis or Marcus Moore will serve as an analyst for home broadcasts during the 2019-20 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com. 

LOCKER ROOM REPORT
Check WSUAthletics.com every week to watch David Greer's weekly locker room report.  He will recap the week's previous games and preview upcoming opponents.