DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team has started 2-0 following a 79-66 triumph over Lewis University (2-2) Thursday evening at the Matthaei.  The Flyers defeated DePaul in exhibition game, 70-68, 11 days ago, but the WSU defense forced 16 turnovers and held the guests to 40.4 percent (21-52) from the floor.

The Warriors came out flat this evening missing their first five field goal attempts and falling behind 5-0 and 7-2 just over four minutes into the contest.

A conventional three-point play by senior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) pulled WSU within two at 7-5.  WSU's first made field goal occurred at the 14:43 mark.

LU's Matt Toth split a pair from the charity stripe giving the visitors the final lead of the game at 8-5.  Senior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) drained a triple to knot the game at eight, and following a Flyer turnover, junior Stacey Waters (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) made a three-pointer off a feed from Smothers giving WSU its first lead at 11-8.

The contest was tied three more times at 11, 13, and 15 before back-to-back Warrior buckets by Waters on a fast break and a lay-up by senior forward Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) put WSU ahead 19-15.

Toth scored from inside cutting the Wayne State lead to two (19-17) and gave Toth nine of Lewis' first 17 points.  A jumper by Waters and a conventional three-point play by sophomore guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) pushed the lead to seven (24-17).

After another Toth bucket, Udanoh and freshman Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich./Northern) each made field goals for a nine-point advantage at 28-19 with 5:23 left in the first half. 

Wayne State's lead remained between six and nine points for the next two minutes until the Flyers' Dennis Thomas hit a triple to cut the Warrior lead to five (35-30) with 2:59 left.

A dunk by Udanoh was answered with another three-pointer by Thomas.  Smothers then scored the next five points on a pair of free throws and a triple.  Udanoh closed out the first half scoring with a running jumper in the lane.

WSU held Lewis off the scoreboard the final 2:30 of the opening 20 minutes.  The Flyers had 14 first half turnovers leading to 18 Warrior points.  Wayne State had just four turnovers at intermission.

LU scored the first four points of the second half prompting a WSU timeout.  Oden hit a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down increasing the Warrior lead to 10 (47-37).  Five straight points by LU's Thomas plus a pair of foul shots by Chris McClellan made it a three-point game (47-44) at the 16:11 mark.

Triples from Smothers and Hollingsworth pushed the lead to nine (53-44) before a lay-up by Thomas.  A free throw by Flyer Marty Strus made it a six-point contest (53-47), but the Warriors responded with a 7-1 run over the next three minutes highlighted by a triple from sophomore forward Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), a basket by Hollingsworth and a jumper by Larkin.

After Lewis cut the deficit to nine (62-53) with 9:02 left, Wayne State answered with a 9-0 spurt.  Waters scored down low, Udanoh had a dunk, and freshman Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) scored the final five points on a fast break lay-up and a three-pointer from the corner.

The Warriors lead went below double-digits just once more at 74-65 with 2:07 left, but Oden sank a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Smothers led four WSU players in double figures with 20 points.  Oden and Udanoh each tallied 13, while Hollingsworth contributed a career-high 12 points in a career-best 34 minutes.  Waters also had a career-high with nine points.  Smothers dished out a career-best eight assists.

Thomas led all scorers with 23 points.  LU's Lonnie Lawrence had a game-high nine rebounds.

Wayne State will play its first road game of the season Sunday afternoon at No. 4-Bellarmine.