Game Notes (PDF)
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (5-1, 3-0) travel to Ashland (2-4, 0-3) on Wednesday for the final game of 2013.
GAME STORYLINES
WSU will take its four-game winning streak to Ashland on Wednesday for a 7:30 PM contest. The Eagles wins have come against Oberlin and Seton Hill and have lost two straight (at GVSU & FSU). WSU's win over Kalamazoo marked head coach
David Greer's 43rd opponent he has defeated in his 12-plus years as the Wayne State leader. On Dec. 7, Greer moved into second place on the WSU men's basketball all-time wins list surpassing the legendary Joel Mason with his 187th win.
SCOUTING ASHLAND
Ashland enters Wednesday's game at 2-4 and 0-3 in league play. The Eagles are coached by John Ellenwood who is in his fifth season at the helm. AU went 13-12 (11-11 GLIAC) last season including a 10-3 mark inside Kates Gymnasium. Senior forward Will Evans leads Ashland in scoring (16.2) and 9.3 rebounding (9.3) while redshirt-junior guard DaWuan Thomas is averaging 11.5 points per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Warriors lead the all-time series 29-19 and is 7-3 during the last 10 meetings. Coach Greer is 16-7 in his career against Ashland and 7-4 on the road versus the Eagles. The two teams first met in 1921-22. Three of the 48 contests have gone into overtime and WSU is 2-1 in those games.
LAST TIME OUT
WSU used a strong first half to stay unbeaten in GLIAC play at Lake Erie (3-6, 0-3) with a 79-70 win on Saturday afternoon.
Gavin Toma scored a career-high 24 points while
Bryan Coleman finished with 22 points. Also in double-figures for the Warriors were
Chene Phillips and
Gerald Williams-Taylor with 11 points a piece. Williams-Taylor also pulled down seven boards.
Clark Bishop finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Riley Thomas and Garrick Sims led the Storm with 14 points each. WSU outrebounded LEC 38-25 and shot 49.1 percent (28-57) from the floor.
WINNING STREAKS
The Green & Gold are currently on a four-game winning streak but have some work to do to get into the record book. The longest winning streak in program history is 17 games done on two occasions. First, from Dec. 10, 1955 until March 12, 1956, and then from Jan. 29, 1994 until March 11, 1994. From Dec. 11, 1927 until Feb. 2, 1928 the program won 14 consecutive games. Beginning on Feb. 23, 1926 WSU won 12 straight until Jan. 7, 1927. Other notable streaks were 11 (2/23/52 - 1/10/53) and nine (12/19/98 - 1/23/99 and 1/8/87 - 1/29/87).
IN THE POLLS
The GLIAC released the 2013-14 Preseason Poll last month 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 189-149 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. Coach Greer passed Joel Mason for second place in victories with his 187th win in the win over Ohio Dominican on Dec. 7.
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.
