CANTON, Ohio – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-14 overall, 2-11 GLIAC) shot 51 percent from the floor including 73 percent from beyond the arc, but it wasn't enough as the host Malone Pioneers (8-11 overall, 6-7 GLIAC) prevailed 77-74 Thursday evening at Osborne Hall.
After MU scored the first five points of the game, the Warriors responded with a 20-5 run over the next 7:30 to take a 20-10 lead. Junior guard
Gavin Toma (Troy, Mich. / Southfield Christian) tallied seven points and sophomore forward
Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) hit two triples in 40 seconds to record six points.
Over the final 11 minutes before halftime, WSU managed just four field goals, two each by Tomas and Lewis and trailed 35-31 at the break. The Warriors shot 39 percent (11-of-28) in the opening 20 minutes compared to 50 percent (11-of-22) for the Pioneers. Both teams made four three-pointers with the slim margin coming from the foul line as Wayne State made 5-of-8 from the charity stripe to 9-of-13 for Malone.
The Pioneers started the second half outscoring the Warriors 18-10 over the first seven minutes to increase their advantage to 12 (53-41).
A lay-up by
Clark Bishop (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance), a jumper by freshman forward
Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech), then a lay-up by freshman guard
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) completed a 6-0 run by Wayne State.
After two foul shots by MU's Neil Gingerich, the Warriors continued the scoring with a triple and a lay-up by Toma, and a jumper by Lewis to make it a one-point game at 55-54. WSU had three chances from the foul line, all by Lewis, to knot the game but all three were off the mark.
A fast break floater from the key fell for Moore giving Wayne State a 56-55 lead, its first advantage since 31-30 three minutes before intermission.
The Pioneers answered with an 8-2 spurt which included their first made field goal in 5:30. Both made field goals for Malone were from beyond the arc to put MU ahead 63-58.
Over the next five minutes WSU was able to get within three twice (63-60 and 74-71), the second time on Toma's fourth three-pointer of the contest.
Wayne State had a defensive stop but Moore was unable to grab his own pass because his teammate had looked away as he was passing the ball down court.
Malone's Ben Haraway missed a shot clock beating triple, but Mitch Spotleson grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled with 10.9 seconds remaining. Spotleson made both in a one-and-one situation to put the Warriors down five (76-71), but Lewis drained a triple to make it a two-point contest (76-74) with 3.8 seconds left.
Toma was called for a foul before the inbounds and Haraway missed the front end of a one-and-one but Jalen Miller grabbed the offensive rebound. Miller sank the first of two free throws but Lewis' three-quarter court shot landed in the key.
Lewis led WSU with a game-high tying 23 points, while Toma added 22 points. Lewis also chipped in a team-best six assists, while tying for game-high rebounding honors with seven (along with Moore), who also dished out five assists.
Stephen O'Daniel III led Malone with 23 points, which included 5-of-7 from three-point range. Haraway had seven assists for the Pioneers.
Wayne State will try to snap its winless January streak that has reached nine games with a home contest vs. Walsh this Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will be televised live on Comcast CN 900 with Ryan Ermanni, Rod Beard and Joe Abramson calling the action. You can also listen to the broadcast on WDTK (1400 AM / 92.7 FM) with Russ McNamara and Cliff Russell.
