Feb. 17, 2011

Big Rapids, Mich. – The Wayne State men's basketball team (17-6, 12-4 GLIAC) dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season, falling 78-66 at Ferris State University (19-5, 15-2 GLIAC) on Thursday night.

Bryan Smothers (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) hit the 20-point mark for the 10th time this season, scoring a game-high 25 points, one shy of his career-high, on 8-of-17 shooting, including a 7-for-8 night from the free-throw line. Smothers also dished out five assists. Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich./Utica) had 18 points and was 7-for-11 at the charity stripe.

Trailing 35-33 to start the second half, the Warriors were outscored 11-6 in the first 5:21. The Bulldogs lead was eight (52-44) after Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) split from the foul line with 11:17 to go.

FSU extended its lead to 56-46 with 9:12 to play, but over the next 1:32, WSU went on a 7-2 run capped by a Smothers triple, climbing within five (58-53).

The Bulldogs scored the next six points on three-point buckets from Matt DeHart and Darien Gay. It would be the only scoring over the next 3:21 until Smothers connected on two free throws, making the score 64-55 with 4:18 remaining.

A lay-up from Williams and a triple from Kenny Brown put FSU in front 69-55 with 3:11 left, but WSU outscored the Bulldogs 10-1 for the next 1:49 of the game, again cutting the deficit to five (70-65). Smothers tallied seven points during the span.

The effort proved too late as Ferris State closed the contest on an 8-1 run.

In the first half, after falling behind 5-0 in the first 61 seconds, the Warriors went on a 13-4 run over the next five minutes. With the game tied at 16, Hollingsworth scored the next five points giving WSU a 21-16 lead.

The Bulldogs took a 24-23 lead on a jumper by Brandyn Mungo with 8:18 left.

WSU scored five straight for a 28-24 advantage, but went scoreless for 2:20, while FSU scored six points to move ahead, 30-28 with 4:09 to go before the break.

Wayne State went back up 33-31, but Ferris State scored the last six points of the first half. The first 20 minutes saw eight lead changes and five ties.

Both teams hit 48 percent of their shots, while each squad combined to shoot 62 free throws with WSU going 18-for-26 and FSU making 25-of-36. The Warriors were out-rebounded 35-23

The Warriors visit Grand Valley State on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.