Game Notes (PDF)
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (11-9, 9-8 GLIAC) need wins if it wants to continue playing in March and that quest continues this week as the Warriors travel to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. WSU will play at Michigan Tech (16-5, 12-5 GLIAC) on Thursday night and at Northern Michigan (4-17, 3-14 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.
WSU split when it hosted these two GLIAC North foes inside the Matthaei earlier in the year. On
Jan. 23rd, the Huskies defeated the Warriors 52-50.
Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) led WSU with 15 points while Austin Armga led all scorers with 16 points.
Bryan Coleman's (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) three-pointer rimmed out as time expired.
On
Jan. 25th, WSU responded with a 61-51 win over Northern Michigan.
Jamar Ragland (Detroit, Mich. / Loyola) led all scorers with a career-high 17 points. WSU held the Wildcats to 15 points in the second half.
GAME STORYLINES
Wayne State enters this week's games tied-for-eighth with Malone at 9-8 with five games to play. WSU has made the GLIAC Tournament five straight seasons. When the Warriors hosted Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan earlier this season, they held the Huskies to 52 points (averaging 76.9 PPG) and the Wildcats to 51 points including 15 in the second half. The 52 points for MTU is by far the lowest point total the Huskies have scored this season.
Bryan Coleman missed a last second three-pointer that would have given the Warriors a win on Jan. 23rd against the Huskies. Senior point guard
Chene Phillips averaged 20.5 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds per game last week.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN TECH / NORTHERN MICHIGAN
Michigan Tech is currently in second place in the GLIAC North at 16-5 overall and 12-5 in the league. The Huskies have won three straight including a 76-71 win at Grand Valley on Feb. 8th. Austin Armga continues to lead the GLIAC in scoring at 23.4 points per game. Ben Stelzer is averaging 17.9 points per game. MTU is the best shooting team in the GLIAC at 48.6 percent from the floor. Kevin Luke is in his 20th season with the program and enters Thursday's game with a 354-216 career record. Northern Michigan is 4-17 overall and 3-14 in the GLIAC, losers of seven straight. Justin Newell leads the way at 12.2 points per game while Marcus Hall is scoring 11.0 points per game. Hall is the best free throw shooter in the league at 92.2 percent (47-51). NMU's last victory came on Jan. 18th against Ferris State 61-59 in Marquette. Head coach Bill Sall is in his first season with the program after 11 seasons as the head coach at Ferris State.
ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series with Michigan Tech 52-28 with the first meeting coming in 1927-28. WSU is 6-4 during the last 10 meetings. Coach Greer is 10-8 all-time against the Huskies and 4-4 on the road. The Warriors also lead the all-time series with Northern Michigan 36-33 with WSU winning eight straight. Coach Greer is 11-6 all-time against the Wildcats and 6-2 in Marquette.
LAST TIME OUT
With WSU vying for one of the final GLIAC Tournament spots, Saturday afternoon's 70-67 setback to visiting the Saginaw Valley Cardinals (8-12, 4-12 GLIAC) did the Warriors no favors. WSU sent Garrett Hall to the free thow line for two with just two seconds left in the contest. Hall missed the second and
Chene Phillips grabbed the rebound and heaved a full-court desperation attempt, which fell short to give SVSU the 70-67 win. Phillips collected his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 assists while also grabbing seven rebounds. Also in double-figures for WSU were
Bryan Coleman with 14 points and
Gavin Toma with 12. Both CJ Turnage and Hall lead all scorers with 23 points each.
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. Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 195-157 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 victory over Ohio Dominican on Dec. 7.
NEAR TRIPLE-DOUBLES
In the 61-51 win over Northern Michigan on Jan. 25th,
Chene Phillips flirted with the program's second triple-double. The senior guard finished with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists in his 39 minutes of action. Phillips was at it again against Ferris State (1/30) with 10 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. The 12 helpers are tied for fourth-most in school history and is the second-highest total by a WSU player in the last eight years (Dale Brundidge had 12 assists at Tiffin on Jan. 19, 2012). 2014 Hall of Fame inductee Kris Krzyminski had two 12-assist contests in a 10-day period in Jan. 2006 (1/2 vs. Illinois Tech and 1/12 vs. Ashland). Phillips continued his hot streak with 22 points, 11 assists and seven boards against Northwood (2/6) and 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds against Saginaw Valley (2/8). The program's only triple-double came from Shane Lawal as he recorded 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks in win over Michigan Tech on Dec. 4, 2008. He finished the year with 71 blocked shots, while averaging 11.7 points per game along with 8.5 rebounds per contest. Lawal earned GLIAC South Division Second Team honors and was also voted to the GLIAC South Division All-Defensive team. Lawal was a member of the Orlando Magic's summer league team in 2013.
PRESEASON ALL-GLIAC
Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection by the league's head coaches. 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.
Mike Hollingsworth (Utica, Mich.) was a First Team All-GLIAC selection before the season started. Hollingsworth will miss the entire season due to injury and finished his career with 991 career points, which is 21st all-time.
COMCAST/XFINITY
The final of six broadcasts by Comcast/Xfinity Channel 900 in 2013-14 will be the Grand Valley contest on Feb. 22, which will be 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.
