Game Notes (PDF)
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (11-13, 9-12 GLIAC) will conclude its season with one of the hottest teams in the country as #16 Lake Superior (26-3, 18-3 GLIAC) on Thursday night at 7:30 PM. The Lakers have won 10 straight and are the GLIAC North Champions.
WSU will honor its class of seven seniors prior to the game.
On Feb. 3rd, WSU battled GLIAC leading Lake Superior but the Lakers prevailed 84-73. Senior forward
Gerald Williams-Taylor led four Warriors in double figures with 20 points. Senior guard
Chene Phillips chipped in 16 points along with team-high totals of seven rebounds and six assists. Senior forward
Bryan Coleman contributed 12 points, with freshman guard
Clark Bishop totaling 10 points. Derek Billing tallied a game-high 24 points and eight assists, while Cameron Metz and Alex Williams each scored 19 for the Lakers.
GAME STORYLINES
With its GLIAC Tournament fate sealed, WSU will look to play the role of spoiler as top-seeded Lake Superior visits the Matthaei Center on Thursday. The Lakers took the season's first meeting by 11, 84-73, on Feb. 3rd.
Bryan Coleman is at 941 career points, which is tied-for-24th in program history. Coleman is 26 points shy of Howard Monk's (1980-84) 967 points. WSU will miss the conference tournament for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
SCOUTING LAKE SUPERIOR
The GLIAC North Champion, Lake Superior enters Thursday's contest ranked #16 in the nation and carry a 26-3 overall record with an 18-3 GLIAC mark. The Lakers have won 10 straight games including an 82-61 thrashing of 19-6 and fourth-seeded Michigan Tech on Saturday. Derek Billing is a two-time GLIAC North Player of the Week and is fifth in the GLIAC at 20.2 points per game. Cameron Metz is also a two-time GLIAC Player of the Week and is averaging 16.5 points per game. Head Coach Steve Hettinga is in his seventh season at LSSU and has amassed a 116-82 record with the program. LSSU ranks third in the GLIAC, scoring 80.9 points per game.
ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series 42-24 with the first meeting occurring in 1969. The Warriors are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings. Coach Greer is 10-8 all-time against the Lakers and 6-4 at home in the series.
SEVEN SENIORS
Bryan Coleman,
Deon Dismuke,
Mike Hollingsworth,
Michael Martin,
Chene Phillips,
Jamar Ragland and
Gerald Williams-Taylor will play their final game in the Green & Gold on Thursday. The seven have combined to go 82-53 in the past five years. The group has made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 2011 GLIAC Tournament on a tip-in from Hollingsworth over #23 Ferris State. Last season, the group helped the Warriors win a share of the GLIAC regular-season title. Hollingsworth is just the fifth player in WSU history with at least 990 points, 300 rebounds, 145 assists, 80 steals and 60 triples.
LAST TIME OUT
WSU gave Grand Valley all it could handle on Saturday, but the Lakers prevailed 82-73 by outscoring the Warriors by nine points in the second half.
Chene Phillips led WSU with 22 points, while
Bryan Coleman contributed 20 points, including a team-best three triples. Senior forward
Jamar Ragland added 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for his first career double-double as a Warrior (he had one for Alcorn State vs. Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 12, 2011). Freshman guard
Clark Bishop totaled 10 points. Rob Woodson tallied a game-high 29 points on 9-of-10 from the foul line to lead five Lakers in double figures. Chaz Rollins added 13 points with Ricardo Carbajal chipping in with 10 points off the GVSU bench as Grand Valley held a 30-17 edge in bench points. Starters Trevin Alexander and Ryan Sabin contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
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 195-161 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 at WSU with his 187th win in the triumph 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 a 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
Comcast CN 900 televised six games during the 2013-14 season across the state. Ryn Ermanni, Rod Beard, Kevin Brechmacher and Joe Abramson provided Warrior 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.
