Wayne State University men's basketball weekly game notes

2010-11 RECORDS:
Wayne State 8-1, 5-0 GLIAC
East Stroudsburg 5-1, 0-0 PSAC
Gannon 3-2, 0-0 PSAC
Seton Hill 4-5, 1-3 WVIAC

SERIES:
First meeting between WSU and ESU
Gannon leads WSU 16-14
First meeting between WSU and SHU

LAST MEETING:
#10-GU won 73-47 at home on Feb. 9, 2008

RADIO: WDTK (1400 AM)

ONLINE AUDIO: wdtkam.com

* GAMES 10-11 STORYLINES

Wayne State won its final two pre-holiday games to improve to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the GLIAC. The last team to start 8-1 was the 1969-70 squad.

The Warriors will be idle until participating in the Porreco Cup at Gannon on Dec. 29-30. WSU faces the East Stroudsburg Warriors the first day and either Gannon or Seton Hill on day two.

* ALL-TIME SERIES

Wayne State has never faced East Stroudsburg or Seton Hill in men's basketball.

The Warriors are 14-16 in 30 previous meetings against Gannon. WSU has a 5-10 record at the Hammermill Center.

* WEEK 5 RECAP

Wayne State posted an 81-69 home court victory over Ohio Dominican University on Dec. 16.

The visiting Panthers held their largest lead of the first half (5-2), but the Warriors tallied seven of the next nine points to grab a 9-7 advantage.

Bryan Smothers helped WSU to a 35-30 intermission lead by scoring 11 points in the first half.

Wayne State scored its first six points of the second half from the foul line as Jerry Oden twice made both foul shots sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Mike Hollingsworth.

The WSU lead would never be less than nine over the final 10:42 of the contest. In addition to tying his career-high of 26 points, Smothers contributed nine rebounds and five assists. Hollingsworth recorded his first career double-double (and WSU's first of the season) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors claimed a 91-81 victory at Tiffin on Dec. 18 to improve to 8-1.

WSU started strong building a 10-5 lead on a conventional three-point play by Hollingsworth. The game was tied three times before a 13-1 Warrior run turned a one-point deficit into an 11-point advantage (30-19), WSU's largest lead of the opening half. Gerald Williams-Taylor finished off the spurt with four consecutive points. A 13-4 run by Tiffin to end the first half gave the hosts a 47-44 lead at intermission.

Over the next four-and-a-half minutes, WSU outscored Tiffin 11-4 for a seven-point advantage (74-67).  Following a Tiffin bucket with 5:53 left which cut the Warrior lead to five, Wayne State scored the next six points on a jumper by Ian Larkin and back-to-back baskets by Hollingsworth.

The Dragons would not get closer than nine points until the final 30 seconds.

Hollingsworth scored a career-high 28 points which included 11-of-15 from the floor. Smothers added 25 points and nine rebounds.

* ON THE BENCH

David Greer, just the ninth head coach in 93 years of WSU basketball, is in his 10th season at WSU with a 135-122 record. He is the fifth-longest tenured coach at WSU.

Jeff Wilson is in his ninth year at East Stroudsburg and has a 130-97 record. John T. Reilly has a 93-58 mark in his sixth year at Gannon. Seton Hill's Tony Morocco has a 112-88 mark in his seventh season.

* SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG

The Warriors have compiled a 5-1 non-conference mark this year with two wins over Lock Haven along with victories against Edinboro, Felician and PSU-Schuylkill.

ESU is 29-7 since the start of last season and 18-1 in regular season non-conference games.

Sophomore forward Duane Johnson leads ESU in both scoring (10.8) and rebounding (6.5).

Junior guard Russell Graham has a team-best 34 assists, while averaging 10 points per contest.

Senior guard Micah Covert leads the squad with 10 triples and is second with 16 assists.

Senior forward Mike Tobin is second in Division II in steals (3.8) and ESU is third in team steals (12.8) and fourth in turnover margin (+8.0).

* SCOUTING GANNON

The Golden Knights snapped a two-game losing streak with a 70-68 home court win over Urbana on Dec. 18 as the Blue Knights rallied from an 11-point deficit with 7:10 left.

Kevin Agee leads the team in scoring (15.2 points per game), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and assists (17).

Kareem Brown has made a team-high nine triples, while Stephen Battle is second in both scoring (11.6) and rebounding (4.6 rpg).

* SCOUTING SETON HILL

The Griffins won two of three games in Puerto Rico (Dec. 13-15) to improve to 4-5.

Kellen Holmes leads SHU in scoring (15.2 ppg) and field goal percentage (52.0). Oliver Lewinson is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game.