Boxscore

Canton, Ohio – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (6-2 overall, 5-0 GLIAC) closed out the pre-holiday portion of its schedule with a 70-59 triumph at Malone University (6-3 overall, 4-2 GLIAC) Wednesday evening.

In Coach Greer's hometown, the Warriors came out firing scoring 13 points in the first 4:40 of the game and had a six-point advantage after the Pioneers had knotted the contest at seven 90 seconds earlier.  WSU's 10 consecutive points came courtesy of five points each from junior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance) and junior guard Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.).

The seven all deadlock was the only tie in the game.

MU answered with a 5-0 run with junior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich./Lathrup) draining a triple to end the spurt.  Malone's Christian Graves hit back-to-back three pointers before junior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich./Northern) scored on a jumper to push the WSU lead to four at 22-18 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Another Graves triple was answered with a Hollingsworth shot from beyond the arc.  MU's Isiah Elliott hit his lone three-pointer of the game cutting the Wayne State advantage to one (25-24) with just under 9:30 left.

The squads traded free throws  before an 8-0 run by the Warriors made it a 34-25 game with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.  Four different WSU players had buckets in the run.

After a Malone basket, Hollingsworth hit his third triple of the opening 20 minutes, and junior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich./Loyola) followed with a lay-up following a steal by Coleman increasing the WSU lead to 12 (39-27).

The Warriors shot a blistering 73 percent (16-of-22) from the floor in the first half including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to grab a 40-30 advantage.  The only blemish in the first half was from the foul line where WSU made just 4-of-11.

The Pioneers scored the first five points of the second half to pull within five (40-35) forcing Coach Greer to call a timeout.  Four straight points by Phillips established a nine-point lead.

Wayne State had a 10-point lead (54-44) with 8:30 left, before Malone went on a 8-0 run to pull within two prior to a conventional three-point play by Ragland.  WSU's run continued with two more back-to-back conventional three-point plays by Hollingsworth and Phillips.

Malone never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Hollingsworth finished with a game-high 20 points, while tying for team-high honors with six rebounds with senior forward Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich./Renaissance).  Phillips contributed 18 points with Ragland adding 10 points off the bench.

Malone had four players in double figures led by Graves' four triples for 12 points.

Wayne State is idle until January when the Warriors begin a four-game homestand on Jan. 3 vs. Hillsdale.