TIFFIN, Ohio -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (4-2 overall) has won four games in a row for the first time since February of 2021. Saturday, the Warriors defeated Tiffin (5-2 overall) for the 20th time in the all-time series (20-3 record) thanks to a score of 74-69 inside the Gillmor Student Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Wayne State started a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, all of which were made inside the arc, and was ahead by three at that point, 16-13. During that stretch, five different Warriors found the scoring column paced by
Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle (Macomb CC)) with eight points.
WSU didn't miss a field goal attempt until its first three-point shot of the day from
Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) at the 11:59 mark. The visitors converted on their first nine two-point attempts, were 9-of-10 overall at that point and held a five-point advantage, 18-13.
Tiffin then rattled off six points in a row to go ahead for the first time at 19-18. Wayne State took the lead back right away though 20-19 thanks to a pair of free throws off the hand of
Hutch Ward (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Central). The Warriors would then push their advantage to three on a trio of occasions, the final coming at 26-23 following a
Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) layup.
The home team countered with 10 of the next 12 points for its biggest edge of the half at five, 33-28. With under a minute to play before the break, Harris cashed his second trey of the half to knot up the score for a second time at 35-35. However, the Dragons' Brandon Swaby answered with a triple of his own to give Tiffin the lead before the intermission, 38-35.
Both teams shot the ball efficiently including 60 percent (15-of-25) for Wayne State and 51.6 percent (16-of-31) for Tiffin. With that being said, the Warriors turned the ball over eight times to just three giveaways by the Dragons. Eight of the nine players that saw the floor for WSU scored a point.
Second Half
Wayne State started the second half just the way it wanted with a 15-2 run for its biggest lead of the contest, 50-40 at the 14:23 point. In that span, six Warriors scored at least a point and they were a combined 6-of-9 from the floor, while Tiffin was 0-for-6.
For the next 12+ minutes, the scoring was much more balanced as TU edged WSU by just five, 21-16, and cut the margin to three twice (50-47, 64-61). Then, with 1:18 to go, Tiffin's Carius Key hit a three-pointer to make it a two-point game, 66-64.
Wayne State was able to put the game on ice though outscoring Tiffin by three, 8-5 the rest of the way for the five-point triumph. All eight of those points came at the free throw line where the Warriors were 8-of-10 and didn't attempt a single field goal in that stretch.
TEAM STATS
As mentioned earlier, both teams shot well in the first 20 minutes before Wayne State cooled off to 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the second half to just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) by Tiffin. The Warriors won the rebounding battle by 15, 41-26, but turned the ball over 19 times, tied for their most since Nov. 11, 2016 at Kentucky Wesleyan. The visitors outscored their hosts by eight, 39-31 in the second half and did enough offensively.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Four Warriors scored in double-figures including Harris with 17 points,
Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) with 14,
Matt Coffey (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) with 14 and Adley with 12. Adley paced the Warriors in both rebounds (8) and assists (5) while Coffey brought down eight boards as well. Williams, Jr. blocked a pair of shot attempts and Adley notched two steals.
LEADING THE DRAGONS
Three Dragons scored at least 10 points -- Jordan Wesley (16), Joshua Rivers (11) and Key (10). Rivers and Key secured four rebounds each while Rivers and Morgan Taylor dished out five assists apiece. Defensively, Rivers (1 block), Key (1 block) and Wesley (4 steals) led the way.
UP NEXT
Wayne State will begin GLIAC play at Northern Michigan on Thursday with the opening tip in Marquette scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
