Boxscore

Post-game Interview with Cole Prophet

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-2 overall, 6-0 GLIAC) remained the only unbeaten squad in league play with a wire-to-wire 71-57 victory over the Hillsdale Chargers (8-3 overall, 4-3 GLIAC) Thursday evening at the Matthaei.

The Warriors raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first 100 seconds on back-to-back lay-ups by junior forward Gerald Williams-Taylor (Flint, Mich. / Northern) and a jumper by senior guard Cole Prophet (Sandusky, Ohio).  WSU never led by less than three (9-6) the rest of the game following a triple by HC's Brandon Pritzl at the 14:25 mark.

Following Pritzl's shot, Wayne State answered with a 12-5 run over the next four minutes as junior forward Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) drained a shot from beyond the arc, junior forward Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola) scored on a jumper, Prophet convereted a fast-break jumper in the paint, then added a fast-break lay-up and free throw and Williams-Taylor finished off the run with another lay-up.

After the Chargers pulled within eight (21-13) at the mid-point of the opening 20 minutes, the Warriors went on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes with all four HC points coming from the charity stripe.  The visitors did not make a field goal the final 13 minutes of the first half going 0-for-15 from the field, including 0-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Wayne State led 41-19 at intermission after limiting Hillsdale to 13 percent (3-of-24) from the floor in the first stanza.  If not for the fact the Chargers went to the foul line 22 times (and made 12) making 55 percent, the lead could have been more than 22.

The Warriors had a 13-0 advantage in points off turnovers at the break along with an 18-4 edge in points in the paint.  WSU shot 53 percent (16-of-30) including 4-of-8 from three-point range in the first half.

A Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) fast-break lay-up early in the second half pused the lead to 24 before the Chargers started to chip away at the deficit.  HC had a 10-3 spurt, before WSU answered with a 9-5 for a 55-34 lead with just under 13 minutes remaining.

Hillsdale cut the deficit to 10 (61-51) with 3:37 left on a jumper by Tim Dezelski capping off a 17-6 Charger run, but the guests would not get any closer the rest of the game.

Hollingsworth led WSU with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and first of the season.  Prophet added 16 points including 5-of-6 from the foul line, while junior guard Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) contributed 12 points by going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.  Senior forward Ian Larkin (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) had five blocked shots to surpass the 100-career blocked shot plateau.

Nick Washburn led Hillsdale with a game-high 17 points and equaling Hollingsworth with 10 rebounds.  Pritzl had 15 points.

The Warriors had just eight turnovers while forcing the Chargers into 16 miscues leading to a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

Wayne State finished the contest shooting 41 percent (24-of-58) from the floor compared to 29 percent (14-of-49) for Hillsdale.

Wayne State continues its homestand with a 1 p.m. tip-off on Saturday at the Matthaei against 24th-ranked Findlay.