Game Notes (PDF)
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (3-1, 2-0) will host the final non-conference game of the season when Kalamazoo (3-5) on Wednesday and will travel to Lake Erie (3-5, 0-2) on Saturday as GLIAC play resumes.
GAME STORYLINES
WSU will remain at home following GLIAC wins over Tiffin and Ohio Dominican inside the Matthaei Center. Coach
David Greer improved to 11-2 in GLIAC openers and has won eight straight. WSU showed it can play fast and score with anyone but are also able to grind out a win. WSU's defense slowed Tiffin's high-octane offense on Thursday to just 51 points and 30 percent shooting. The Dragons were averaging 94.8 points per game before the contest. In addition, TU's senior guard and then GLIAC Player of the Week Joe Graessle entered the game scoring over 27 points per game and the Warriors held him to 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting. On the other end of the spectrum, the Green & Gold outscored Ohio Dominican 90-85, shooting nearly 50 percent.
SCOUTING KALAMAZOO/LAKE ERIE
The Hornets of Kalamazoo College enter Wednesday's game with a 3-2 record. K-Zoo started the season at Western Michigan and fell 88-59. The Hornets are averaging 89.2 points per game and allow 86.8 points per game. Senior guard Mark Ghafari leads the team at 31.8 points per game. Junior forward Adam Peters is contributing 16.0 points per game. Head coach Eric Dougal is in his second year with the program after an 8-17 record last season. Lake Erie is 3-5 overall and 0-2 in GLIAC play. The Storm just dropped two road league games last weekend at Ferris State (73-70) and Grand Valley (84-80). LEC is averaging 78.6 points per game and is led by senior guard Riley Thomas at 21.7 point per game. Cliff Hunt is in his ninth season with the program and entered the season with a 108-107 career record.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Wayne State and Kalamazoo will meet for the first time since World War II days. WSU leads the all-time series 12-6 with the last meeting coming on Dec. 13, 1941. The first ever meeting was during the 1921-22 season. WSU has never lost to Lake Erie in the five all-time meetings.
LAST TIME OUT
WSU upended visiting Ohio Dominican 90-85 Saturday afternoon at the Matthaei. Despite the offensive outburst before halftime there were only two ties (26 and 40) and one lead change (WSU taking a 27-26 lead after trailing for the first 13 minutes of the game). Ohio Dominican led by 10 (24-14) just past the mid-point of the first half before the hosts answered with a 16-2 run over the next four minutes with
Bryan Coleman leading the charge with seven points during the spurt.
Chene Phillips finished with a game-high 29 points (10-of-14 FG, 9-11 FT) along with a team-best eight rebounds. Coleman chipped in with 25 points including a game-best three triples.
Gavin Toma tallied 16 points and had five offensive rebounds. Mark Minch led ODU with 26 points to pace four Panthers in double figures. Trent Weaver totaled a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC released the 2013-14 Preseason Poll on Nov. 7th as voted on by 24 media members. Wayne State University was predicted to win the GLIAC North Division with 172 points and 10 first-pace nods. Also picking up first-place votes in the North Division Poll were Grand Valley (6), Michigan Tech (5), and Ferris State (3). Findlay was a unanimous choice to win the the South Division receiving all 24 first-place votes.
COACH GREER
David Greer is in his 13th season at the helm of the Warrior basketball program during the 2013-14 academic year. He is the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history. Coach Greer's squad returns nine letterwinners of which there are seven seniors including three starters from a squad that finished 17-10 (16-6 GLIAC) last season. Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 187-149 record, was voted the 2012-13 GLIAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Greer coached his 300th WSU (non-exhibition) game vs. Northwood on Feb. 11, 2012, and his 200th GLIAC game vs. Grand Valley on Feb. 18, 2012. He is 10-2 in GLIAC openers in his time at WSU and has won the last seven league openers.
2012-13 RECAP
The Warriors won a share of the regular-season conference championship last season, the first for the WSU men's basketball program since the 1998-99 season, and played in the NCAA tournament for the 13th time in program history (fourth appearance under Greer).
PRESEASON ALL-GLIAC
Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) was voted All-GLIAC First Team while
Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection by the league's head coaches. Hollingsworth, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, led the Warriors with a 14.6 points per game average last season and was twice named GLIAC Player of the Week. He shot 49.4 percent from the floor and was third on the team in assists with 53 along with being voted to the All-GLIAC First Team. Phillips, a senior guard, was fourth on the Warriors averaging 11.5 points per game a season ago. A 6-foot-2 transfer after his sophomore season from Liberty University, Phillips started all 27 games for Wayne State last season and was first on the team in steals (45) and second on the squad in assists (94). Phillips also went to the charity stripe with great frequency, sinking 114 free throws last season.
COMCAST/XFINITY
Six games will be broadcast on Comcast/Xfinity Channel 900 in 2013-14, with home dates against Tiffin (Dec. 5), Michigan Tech (Jan. 23), Ferris State (Jan. 30), Northwood (Feb. 6), Saginaw Valley (Feb. 8), Grand Valley (Feb. 22) being shown throughout the state. Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will provide Warriors fans with the live action.
ON THE CALL
Russ McNamara will call all of the men's action this season on 1400 AM and 92.7 FM The Patriot. Former Tartar and WSU Hall of Fame inductee Cliff Russell will provide analysis for every home game.
WARRIOR ALL-ACCESS
The 2013-14 school year marks the fourth season of Warrior All-Access at WSUAthletics.com. Not only will all home WSU basketball, football and volleyball games be available for viewing by a world wide audience on a pay-per-view basis, but also the Warrior Daily ~ a video each weekday, available for free on WSUAthletics.com featuring interviews with WSU coaches and staff, and student-athletes. Fans wanting to watch Wayne State events via Warrior All-Access will need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Games will be sold on an individual basis with special viewing packages also available. Warrior All-Access will also feature On-Demand Audio and Video with the stored archived video and audio on WSUAthletics.com.
