DETROIT -- After an eight-game road trip, a short-handed Wayne State University men's basketball squad (4-6 overall, 1-5 GLIAC) fell 73-65 to Davenport (11-5 overall, 3-3 GLIAC), inside the Matthaei on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
A layup from freshman forward Nate Talbot (Lake Orion, Mich.) extended the Warriors lead to seven (9-2) at the 17-minute mark, forcing the visiting Panthers to use an early timeout.  Freshman forward Kylin Grant (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) pushed the home advantage to 11-5 with a jumper with 15:57 to play in the stanza.  Senior guard Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) slowed the visitors momentum with a bucket at the 13:28 mark to put WSU on top 15-13.  Robbie Bramhill pushed the Panthers ahead with a three-pointer at the 11:16 mark.  Sophomore LJ DeWolf (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ann Arbor Huron) connected from behind the arc for the first time in his career at the 10:24 mark, giving the Green & Gold an 18-16 advantage.  Another trey from DeWolf made it 22-19 with 8:17 left before halftime.  At the 7:32 mark, the game was tied at 22-22 before the teams traded baskets ending with a jumper from Neely with 5:40 left before halftime to get the Warriors back on top, 25-24.  DU seized the momentum and jumped out to a 37-26 lead at the 2:42 juncture.  Another deep jumper from DeWolf kept WSU close, 37-31, with 1:50 to play.  However, Davenport would collect the final points of the half and enter the locker rooms leading 39-31.

The Panthers opened the second half on an 8-4 run to lead 47-35 at the 17:19 mark.  After WSU's eighth block of the night, Neely converted a layup on the other end to trim the deficit to 50-42 with 15:25 left in the contest.  A WSU turnover lead to an easy layup for DU's Janeau Joubert, pushing the Panthers' margin to 58-44, at the 12:19 mark.  DeWolf's fourth three-pointer of the night, trimmed WSU's deficit to 60-49 at the 11-minute mark.  Sophomore guard Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) made one of two free throw attempts to bring WSU within eight, 60-52, with 9:34 remaining.  DeWolf continued to carry the offense with a bank-in three-pointer to make it 61-55 at the 8:49 mark to cap a 9-1 run.  An old-fashioned three-point play from graduate student James Gordon (Shelbyville, Ky. / Chicago Simeon) trim the margin to four, 62-58, with 7:24 left to play.  Layups from Marshall and Neely cut DU's lead to one, 64-63, at the 4:30 mark.  The Panthers answered with five quick points, but WSU stayed close with another basket from Neely.  Neely found room in the paint again for a layup to make it 69-65 in favor of the visitors with 2:15 left.  Davenport would make four of its six free throws attempts to secure the 73-65 victory.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
A trio of Warriors finished with 15 points, including DeWolf who was powered by five triples.  Marshall and Neely also posted 15-point performances.  Neely just missed his second consecutive triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists.  Talbot missed a double-double by one rebound, but tallied nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

LEADING THE PANTHERS
Chris Rollins and Janeau Joubert both notched 17 points, while Tafari Beckford chipped in with 11 points and 10 boards.

ONE BIG THING
Neither team performed well at the free throw line but the charity stripe continues to befuddle the Warriors and it loomed large on Thursday night as WSU made 7-of-12 (.583) at the line, while DU made 13 of its 21 attempts (.619).

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host 18th-ranked Grand Valley State on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.