Painesville, Ohio – The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (4-1 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) began the league portion of its 2011-12 schedule with a 67-56 victory at Lake Erie College (3-2 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) Thursday evening.
 
The Warriors started the contest very strong defensively holding the host Storm without a field goal for the first 6:30, while the visitors from Detroit opened a 13-2 advantage.  Junior guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) tallied nine points, while classmate Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) had two offensive put backs.
 
After a triple by LEC's Tom Parker, WSU responded with a 7-0 run to open a 15-point advantage at 20-5.  A 10-4 run by the Storm concluded on a three-pointer by Rich Austin at the 6:00 mark, which cut the Warrior lead to nine at 24-15.
 
Each team scored seven points the rest of the half.
 
The Warriors shot 45 percent (14-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes, but was just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.  Hollingsworth tallied 11 points and was one of three WSU players with four rebounds -- along with Dale Brundidge (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) and Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich. / Warren Woods Tower).
 
Lake Erie made 32 percent (8-of-25) from the floor.  Even though the Storm had a 19-16 edge in rebounding, WSU had just four turnovers to 10 for LEC.  Wayne State had a 12-1 advantage in points off turnovers and a 24-10 margin in points in the paint.
 
The second half started very similarly to the first half as Lake Erie did not make a field goal for nearly five minutes, while the Warriors tallied the first 12 points for a 43-26 lead.
 
A 9-1 run by the Storm pulled the hosts within nine at 46-37 with 11:14 remaining.
 
The next six minutes was very evenly played with WSU securing an 11-9 edge in scoring to have an 11-point lead (57-46) with just over five minutes left.
 
After a bucket by Udanoh, LEC's Riley Thomas hit a triple cutting the Wayne State lead to 10 at 59-49 with 4:38 remaining.
 
Lake Erie tallied seven of the next 11 points to make it a seven-point game at 63-56 with 1:34 left.  However, buckets by Hollingsworth and Udanoh sealed WSU's fourth consecutive victory.
 
Hollingsworth led three Warriors in double figures with 19 points, while Larkin added 14 points and Cole Prophet (Sandusky, Ohio) chipped in with 12 points.  Udanoh grabbed a game-best eight boards.
 
Wayne State shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and 78 percent (14-of-18) from the foul line and finished with just 10 turnovers.
 
Meanwhile, Lake Erie was held to 38 percent (20-of-53) from the floor including 23 percent (6-of-26) from beyond the arc as the Storm took half of its shots from three-point land.  Austin had a team-best 14 points for LEC, while Jamil Dudley added 13 points off the bench.
 
Wayne State will conclude its four-game road swing with a 3 p.m. tip-off Saturday at Ashland.

Coach Greer Quotebook:

"Mike (Hollingsworth) had a great game for us tonight.  Ike (Udanoh) wasn't great but Ian (Lakrin) really stepped up.  Cole (Prophet) played a great second half and got us some easy baskets.
 
"I thought we attacked the boards pretty well especially on the offensive end.  Any time you shoot 50 percent (from the floor) and get to the foul line late, that's a good sign.
 
"In the second half we got a lot of high percentage shots because Lake Erie was very aggressive defensively.  We were able to beat the pressure and get the ball to the basket.  Eventhough we missed the initial shot, we were able to get some tip-ins.
 
"Our biggest problem was us tonight.  We had a couple of defensive lapses where we would get a lead then let them hit a three-pointer.

"You have to give Lake Erie a lot of credit.  They really attacked the basket and played us aggressively.

"Any time you can win on the road, we'll take it.

"I thought our defensive pressure in the first 10 minutes of the game was outstanding and decisive.  When you are only playing seven guys it is difficult to sustain it, especially in the second half.