Dec. 30, 2010

Erie, Pa. -- The Wayne State men's basketball team had its seven-game winning streak halted by Gannon, 61-52, in the championship game of the 37th annual Porreco Cup on Thursday evening at GU's Hammermill Center.

Senior guard Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) led the Warriors with 14 points, while freshman Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Poor shooting and turnovers plagued Wayne State all game as the Warriors shot 35.1% (20-of-57) from the floor and committed 17 turnovers. In the end, it caused the Warriors to be held to their lowest point total of the season.

Down 25-24 to start the second half, the Warriors were outscored 13-7 in the first eight minutes. A bucket from Gannon's Danard Crouch put the Warriors down 38-31 with 12:27 remaining. Travis Brannen's lay-up at the 10:38 mark pushed the lead to 42-32, and the home team had the momentum and crowd in their favor.

However, WSU would bounce back. The Warriors would hold the Golden Knights scoreless over the next five-and-a-half minutes and pile up nine points in the meantime. Without the run, the Warriors were looking at a lopsided ending.

The turning point came with just over three minutes remaining. With WSU trailing 44-43, Kelvin Agee knocked down a triple and then Kareem Brown's put-back gave the home team a 49-43 lead with 2:17 left.

Smothers hit a triple from the corner to pull WSU within three with 1:53 remaining, but Brown nailed a fade away jumper to put the Golden Knights back up five. The Warriors still found themselves with a chance to tie, down 52-49, with under a minute to play, but could not capitalize.

Both teams struggled out of the gate with the Warriors gaining the early advantage, opening on a 7-0 run in the first four-and-a-half minutes. Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) tallied four of the contests first seven points during the stretch.

The Golden Knights found the scoreboard at the 15:22 mark and then went on to score eight of the games next 10 points to trail 9-8 with 11:41 left in the first half.

WSU outscored Gannon 6-5 over the next few minutes to lead 15-13 with 7:48 remaining in the first 20 minutes

The Warriors kept their lead until Kareem Brown's triple with 4:12 left before intermission gave Gannon a 20-19 advantage. It was short-lived as an Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) lay-up at the 2:57 mark put the visitors back up by one. Larkin's three-point bucket again gave the Warriors a one-point advantage, 24-23, with 34 seconds left in the first half, but the Golden Knights answered with a hoop and went into halftime ahead 25-24. Larkin led all players in scoring with seven points during the opening 20 minutes.

Senior center Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) and Coleman were selected to the all-tournament team.

The Warriors are back in action on January 8 when they host second-ranked Findlay (11-0) at 1:00 p.m.