ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-3) returned to the court after a 12-day break at Lewis (5-1) on Saturday in the final non-conference tilt of the season for WSU. The Flyers did just enough to win, 62-60. The Warriors started fast but were unable to hold up a strong defensive performance. The Warriors had a chance to win on a
Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) 25-foot three-pointer but it found iron and Lewis survived for the two-point victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED- WSU started the contest quickly and led 13-3 at the 15:23 mark after a bucket from
Joel Ndondo (Ajax, Ont. / Christian Faith Center Academy) and a jumper by
George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville).
Chuck Key's (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) layup kept the Warriors ahead with 11:20 remaining before halftime.
- Max Strus knocked down four straight free throws to give the Flyers an 18-17 advantage with just under 10 minutes to play. A five-foot jumper from Key gave the Warriors a one-point lead. Both teams went scoreless until two free throws from
Tom Cotter (Williamston, Mich.) extended the visitors' lead to 21-18. The game was tied at 24-24 with 5:25 left before the break.
- The Warriors went cold to end the first half but a layup from Key kept WSU within striking distance, 30-28, at the 1:41 mark. That would be the final points of the half for the Green & Gold and Lewis led 33-28 at halftime.
- Halftime adjustments by Lewis and a cold start by the Warriors led to an 11-point lead (48-37) at the 11:43 mark of the second half. However, back-to-back three-pointers from
Marcus Moore (Lansing, Mich. / Waverly) and Booth trimmed the deficit to 48-43 at the 10-minute mark.
- Buckets from
Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) and Key kept WSU within four with just under three minutes to play. The home lead was four once again after two free throws from Booth. Miles Simelton missed the back end of a one-and-one and a bucket from Booth pulled WSU within two, 60-58, with 13 seconds to play. A split at the free throw line by Strus kept the Flyers' lead at three. Booth hit two free throws to cut deficit to one and another split at the charity stripe from Strus led to a Booth three-point attempt for the win but it fell short.
LEADING THE WARRIORS- Booth led the team in scoring with 14 points while collecting a team-high nine rebounds. Key added 11 points as WSU's bench combined for 24 points.
- Eight Warriors scored in the contest and six players had at least five points.
TEAM NOTES- Lewis entered the game averaging 86.6 points per game and shooting 53 percent but only shot 37 percent on Saturday.
- The difference was at the free throw line. WSU was 9-of-16 while Lewis hit 24 of its 33 attempts at the line.
- The Warriors tallied 30 points in the paint.
UP NEXT- Wayne State will begin GLIAC play at Northwood on Thursday at 8 PM.
