Feb. 17, 2011

Allendale, Mich. – The Wayne State men's basketball team (18-6, 13-4 GLIAC) led from start to finish, handing Grand Valley State University (18-7, 13-5 GLIAC) its first home loss, 59-52, on Saturday. The Warriors were the last team to beat the Lakers at GVSU Fieldhouse, winning 70-56 last season.

The 52 points was GVSU's lowest game total this season.

WSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead as GVSU did not score until the 16:06 mark. The Warriors biggest lead (8) of the first half came after a pair of free throws from Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich./Utica), making the score 15-7 with 10:12 remaining. Hollingsworth scored 14 points and added four rebounds.

Wayne State was up 21-15 with 3:58 left following Bryan Smothers' (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) only field goal of the first 20 minutes. It would be the Warriors last points of the half as they took a 21-17 lead into the break.  

Following a lay-up from Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech), who had 14 points and three rebounds, extended the Warriors halftime lead to seven (30-23) at the 14:50 mark, WSU was outscored 14-11 over the next 6:52 of the contest.

Just over the next three minutes, Wayne State used a 7-3 run capped by a jumper from Smothers to go back up by eight (48-40).

After another basket from Oden put the Warriors on top 50-43 with 2:28 to go, Smothers, who tied for a game-high 16 points, concluded the game by scoring WSU's last nine points. The Lakers totaled nine points as a team during the stretch.

Both teams struggled from the field with the Warriors bettering the Lakers 43.6 percent to 43.2 percent. WSU went 22-for-31 from the free-throw line, while GVSU was 11-of-19.

The Warriors held a 12-5 lead in points off turnovers in the first half and finished the game with a 25-9 advantage.

Wayne State ends the regular season with two home games, starting Thursday at 6:00 p.m. versus Lake Superior State and ending with Hillsdale on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Comcast will be broadcasting Thursday's contest.