DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (4-12 overall, 1-11 GLIAC) began the second half of the GLIAC season with another close loss, 74-73, against Lake Superior State (9-11 overall, 6-6 GLIAC) on Thursday night inside the Matthaei. It was head coach
David Greer's 500th game at Wayne State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
A 12-foot jumper from graduate forward
James Gordon IV (Shelbyville, Ky. / Chicago Simeon) gave the Warriors a 6-3 lead at the 18:24 mark of the first half. Senior guard
Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) kept the Warriors on top, 10-6, with 15:52 left before halftime. A triple from Brandon Allen gave the Lakers a 13-12 lead at the 13:30 mark. A 9-0 run by the Green & Gold put WSU in front by seven (29-22), its largest of the night, with 5:31 remaining in the stanza after a layup from senior guard
Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International). Two shots at the charity stripe by LSSU's C.J. Robinson leveled the score at 29-29 at the 3:17 mark. An offensive rebound and a put back by Murray tied the game at 33-33 with 1:37 left before intermission. Two more points from Murray put Wayne State ahead 35-33 with 25 seconds left and that would be the halftime score.
Lake Superior State tallied the first eight points of the second half to propel itself to a 41-35 lead following a trey by Nigel Colvin at the 17:33 forcing WSU to use an early timeout. The Warriors continued to trail 43-37 with 15:46 left in the contest. The momentum stayed with the visiting Lakers and a Dan Few layup extended LSSU's lead to 11 (53-42) at the 12:18 mark. A jumper from Gordon and two free throws by freshman forward
Kylin Grant (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) trimmed the deficit to 53-46 with 11 minutes to play. However, the Lakers responded with back-to-back triples to stretch their lead to 59-46 at the 10:21 mark. Wayne State kept fighting and a jumper by Murray followed by a layup from sophomore guard
Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) kept WSU within striking distance, 59-50, with nine minutes remaining. Marshall cut the deficit to seven (62-55) with a three-pointer at the 7:46 mark, but Ke'Montrece Collins answered immediately on the ensuing possession wth two points. Neely connected on a jumper to bring WSU within six, 66-60, with 4:53 left in regulation. Six straight points from Murray tied the game at 66-66 at the 2:46 mark, but LSSU's Colvin knocked a trey to break the tie. Neely answered with a layup, making it a one-point game. Justin Fischer made one of two free throws to give the Lakers a 70-68 advantage. The teams traded punches as two free throws from Neely tied the game at 70-70 with just over 90 seconds to play and a bucket from Fischer put the visitors back on top by two. An old-fashioned three-point play by Murray with 21 seconds left gave WSU a 73-72 lead, its first since halftime. An offensive rebound by Collins led to a layup to give the Lakers a 74-73 advantage. Wayne State had the ball with a chance to win the game but a turnover would effectively end the game with 0.01 of a second left on the clock.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Murray finished with a season-high 27 points, while Neely tallied 18 points along with eight assists. Marshall chipped in with 14 points, while Gordon pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
LEADING THE LAKERS
Four Lakers finished with at least 10 points paced by Collins with 16 points. Colvin poured in 15 points, while both Fischer and Xander Okerlund finished with 10 points each.
ONE BIG THING
The three-point line was not friendly to WSU as the Warriors went 3-for-13 from long range compared to LSSU's 10-of-22 clip.
UP NEXT
The Warriors complete their four-game home stand on Saturday afternoon versus 11th-ranked Ferris State. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at the Matthaei.