Men's Basketball | 1/21/2015 10:00:00 AM

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-11, 2-8 GLIAC) will look to end its six-game losing streak at Lake Erie (5-9, 2-8 GLIAC) on Thursday and Ashland (11-5, 5-5 GLIAC) on Saturday. The Warriors have dropped consecutive overtime games and begin their second three-game road trip of the season.

STORYLINES
The Warriors will need to continue the trend of beating Lake Erie to end a six-game losing streak. This three-game road trip will be the second such road trip of the season before finishing with six of nine games at home.  WSU ranks second in the GLIAC in rebounding (37.3 RPG) and fourth in free throw percentage (.731). Head coach David Greer is two wins shy of 200 victories in his 14 seasons at Wayne State.

THE SERIES
WSU is 6-0 all-time against Lake Erie with all six wins coming in the Coach Greer era. The Warriors are 3-0 in Painesville, Ohio. Wayne State also holds the advantage against Ashland, 29-20. WSU has won three of the last four and are 10-13 in the road contests. Coach Greer is 16-8 against the Eagles.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Lake Erie enters the week at 5-9 overall (2-8 in conference games) and has dropped four straight. Jamil Dudley leads the Storm in scoring at 12.9 points per game while Andy Bosley is scoring 12.8 points per game and Nick Wells is chipping in 10.2 points per contest. Wells and Roy Alexander are tied for the team lead with 4.5 rebounds per game while Bosley leads LEC with 2.2 assists per game. Head coach Cliff Hunt is in his 10th season leading the squad. Wells is tied-for-third in the GLIAC in three-point shooting percentage at .450 (18-40).

Ashland leads the South Division at 11-5 overall and 5-5 in league contests. The Eagles have won three of their last five games including an 80-61 win over Malone on Jan. 17th. Wendell Davis is fourth in the GLIAC at 16.9 points per game and ranks fifth with 7.3 rebounds per game. Davis has been named GLIAC Player of the Week on two occasions. Head coach John Ellenwood is in his sixth season at Ashland. As a team, AU is second in field goal percentage (.470), fourth in points allowed (64.1 PPG), and fifth in both rebounding (36.4 RPG) and scoring (73.5 PPG).

IN THE POLLS
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its 2014-15 Preseason Poll on Oct. 29th as voted on by local media members. The Wayne State University men's basketball team was predicted to finish third in the South Division with 90 points. Sophomore guard Clark Bishop was voted to the All-GLIAC Second Team as voted on by the league's head coaches. 

2013-14 RECAP
Last season, the Wayne State University men's basketball program knew it would be an uphill battle all-year long in the always tough GLIAC. That battle became more difficult when the Warriors lost Mike Hollingsworth to injury prior to the start of the season.  He was just the fifth player in WSU history with at least 990 points, 300 rebounds, 145 assists, 80 steals and 60 triples.

However, typical of David Greer coached teams, WSU fought its way to 12 wins including notable victories at Grand Valley State in overtime and a four-point win over No.16 Lake Superior State at home to end the season.

WSU missed the GLIAC Tournament for the first time since 2008 and will need to replace seven seniors who made a significant impact last season and in their careers.

LAST TIME OUT
With its sights set on snapping a five-game losing streak, the WSU hosted Ohio Dominican (5-10, 3-7 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon inside the Matthaei. The Warriors dropped their second straight overtime game, 70-64. The game featured five ties and seven lead changes while neither team led by more than nine. WSU led for the majority of the contest until the final three minutes of regulation. Two free throws from Toma in a one-and-one situation with 2.6 second left tied the game at 59-59 and a desperation half-court heave from Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance), after he stole the in-bounds pass, went off the rim to send the game into overtime. For the second straight contest Toma forced overtime with the game-tying points.

Weaver scored the first four points of the extra session for the visitors to put ODU on top 63-60 with 3:14 left to play. Two missed free throws and cold shooting plagued WSU in overtime. Weaver added two more points to give the Panthers a 67-61 lead with 30 seconds remaining. A late three-pointer from Toma was too little too late as the Panthers controlled the overtime period. WSU went 1-of-7 from the floor in OT and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Toma led all scorers with 21 points, while Moore finished with 12 points. Nelson led four Panthers in double figures with 17 points while Weaver posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

THE BEAT GOES ON
David Greer is in his 14th season at the helm of the Warrior basketball program during the 2014-15 academic year.  He is the fourth-longest tenured coach in program history and is two wins shy of 200 victories with Wayne State. Greer, who has directed the Warriors to a 198-172 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 State 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, 2013.

NEELY INDUCTED INTO EMU HALL OF FAME
Current and longtime assistant coach Lorenzo Neely was inducted in the E-Club Athletic Hall of Fame. The Eastern Michigan University E-Club Alumni Chapter, the official varsity athletic letterwinners club, announced Neely as well as six other former standouts who were enshrined at the Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, Oct. 24. Neely is entering his 11th season with the WSU men's basketball program, all spent with head coach David Greer, and has been a collegiate coach for the past 16 years. He finished his Huron career with 1,528 points, 433 free throws, 317 rebounds, and his 521 assists rank second in EMU's all-time record book. Neely served as an assistant men's basketball coach at EMU for two seasons including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998.

COMCAST/XFINITY
The final six men's and women's basketball home games will be broadcast live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast CN900.  Sean Baligian, Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson will bring you the action.

WDTK - THE PATRIOT
Russ McNamara will call all of the men's action this season on WDTK - The Patriot (92.7 FM / 1400 AM). Fans can also listen online at WDTKAM.com. WSU Hall of Famer Cliff Russell will return to provide his insights for each home game.

ALL-NEW MATTHAEI
The Matthaei has received a face lift over the course of the past decade. In January of 2014, a new scoreboard and videoboard were installed which features live action and replays. During the offseason, the Warriors added a new parquet floor and the sub-floor (circa 1965) was replaced. And finally a new basketball office expansion was completed in the fall on the northwest corner of the Matthaei. The new expansion includes six coaches offices, a theater-style film room and a reception area.

NEXT UP
The road trip continues at Malone on Jan. 29th before returning home for match-ups with Walsh (Jan. 31), Findlay (Feb. 2) and Tiffin (Feb. 5).