Game Notes (PDF)
DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (10-8, 8-7 GLIAC) will host Northwood (15-8, 11-4 GLIAC) on Thursday and Saginaw Valley (7-11, 3-11 GLIAC) on Saturday in pair of rematches.
WSU lost at Northwood, 77-64, on Jan. 16th. Four Warriors finished in double-figured led by
Bryan Coleman (Southfield, Mich. / Lathrup) and
Chene Phillips (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance) with 16 points. On Jan. 18th the men responded with a wire-to-wire 68-61 win at Saginaw Valley. Phillips led the way with 25 points and eight rebounds.
GAME STORYLINES
WSU had its three-game winning streak snapped at first-place Lake Superior on Monday night against a very hot-shooting Laker program. The Warriors split with Northwood and Saginaw Valley on the road with a loss at Northwood and a win at SVSU earlier in the season.
Gerald Williams-Taylor and
Clark Bishop have stepped up offensively as Williams-Taylor has back-to-back 20-point games with a career-high of 21 points at GVSU while Bishop posted a career-high 18 points at GVSU. WSU has the eighth best rebounding margin in the league, allowing opponents to snag 32.6 rebounds per game. WSU's remaining opponents have a combined 76-44 overall record and 51-37 in league games.
SCOUTING NORTHWOOD / SAGINAW VALLEY
Northwood enters Thursday's contest at 15-8 overall and 11-4 in league games and are one of the hotter teams in the GLIAC, winning seven of its last eight games. NU has two of the top rebounders in the GLIAC in Will Bowles and Wes Wilcox, who both are averaging 8.1 boards per game. At Northwood, the Timberwolves out-rebounded the Warriors 34-25. Bowles' 29 points (12-of-15 FG) in the Jan. 16th meeting is the most WSU has allowed this season. NU's head coach Jeff Rekeweg is in his fourth season with the program and carries a 56-49 record. Saginaw Valley sits at 7-11 overall and 3-11 in the GLIAC. SVSU has lost two straight after beating Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. Most recently, the Cardinals lost at Northwood, 80-58. SVSU is led by Damon Bozeman at 16.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. C.J. Turnage (14.5 PPG) and Garrett Hall (13.2) also have the ability to score in bunches. In addition Wade Gelhaus leads the GLIAC in field-goal percentage at 64 percent. SVSU's head coach Randy Baruth is in his second season with the team and has led the Cardinals to a 19-24 record.
ALL-TIME SERIES
WSU leads the all-time series against Northwood 37-27 but are 3-7 during the past 10 meetings. Coach Greer is 10-10 all-time vs. Northwood and 7-3 inside the Matthaei. WSU took a 34-33 series lead earlier this season and are 6-4 during the last 10 meetings. Coach Greer is 12-7 all-time against SVSU and 6-2 at home in the series.
LAST TIME OUT
WSU battled GLIAC leading Lake Superior (20-3 overall, 12-3 GLIAC) on the Lakers home court Monday evening, but the hosts prevailed 84-73. LSSU took half of its shots from beyond the arc in the first 10 minutes connecting on 8-of-13 triple tries for a 43-37 edge at intermission. Derek Billing was 5-of-7 on three-point attempts in the first half recording 17 points before the break.
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. Billing tallied a game-high 24 points and eight assists, while Cameron Metz and Alex Williams each scored 19 for the Lakers.
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 194-156 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 the 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). Next month's 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). The program's only triple-double came from Shane Lawal. Lawal recorded the only triple-double in school history with 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 will finish his career with 991 career points, which is 21st all-time.
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, Joe Abramson and Kevin Brechmacher 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.
