Feb. 24, 2011

Detroit, Mich. – The Wayne State men's basketball team (18-7, 13-5 GLIAC) had its 13-game home winning streak snapped following a 64-60 setback to Lake Superior State (15-10, 9-9 GLIAC) on Thursday. WSU's last defeat at the Matthaei was on Feb. 13, 2010.

Despite having four players in double figures, the Warriors struggled offensively, shooting 39 percent from the floor and 18.2 percent from behind the three-point line.

Jerry Oden (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech) scored 18 points and collected a game-high 11 rebounds, while Stacey Waters (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance), Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich./Warren Woods Tower) and Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich./Utica) each had 11 points. Derek Billing led the Lakers with a game-high 26 points.

With the Warriors trailing 31-21 to start the final 20 minutes, both teams traded baskets in the first four minutes as Lake Superior still clung to its 10 point lead (37-27) with 15:55 left.

WSU cut into the deficit by turning up the defense pressure, forcing three Lakers' turnovers and scoring seven points in just over a minute and a half to trail 37-34 with 14:02 remaining.

Derek Billing stopped the run with a triple, but the Warriors answered, scoring the next seven points and taking their first lead, 41-40, since the 16:44 mark of the first half.

Back down the floor, Billing again connected from behind the arc, but Waters answered with a triple of his own, putting WSU back up one (44-43) with 10:51 to go.

Behind an 11-1 run over the next 5:21, where the Warriors were held without a field goal, the Lakers jumped back in control.

Baskets from Udanoh and Oden cut the margin to five (54-49) with 4:38, but LSSU used a 6-1 run over the next 3:13 to increase its lead to 60-50 with 1:25 remaining.

Waters buried back-to-back triples to put the Warriors down four (60-56) with 43 seconds left. Each team hit four free throws the rest of the way.

Both teams battled evenly for the first 15:46 of the contest as the span saw seven ties.

After a made jumper from Oden cut the Wayne State deficit to two (21-19) with 4:14 to play before the break, Lake Superior pushed the lead right back to four on a Justin Willaims basket. The bucket sparked a 10-2 run by the Lakers to close the half.

The Lakers shot 64.9 percent from the field and 70 percent from three-point land, which were the highest totals the Warriors have allowed this season.

Wayne State hosts Hillsdale at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday in the regular-season finale.