MIDLAND, Mich. – The Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-4 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) ran into a hot shooting Northwood squad (4-2 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) Thursday evening and fell 94-80 to the Timberwolves in the league opener for both squads.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The lead changed twice in the early going before NU went on an 11-2 run to grab a 14-6 lead.  The Timberwolves extended their margin to 10 (20-1) at the 12:21 mark as Zach Allread became the sixth different Northwood player to connect from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes.
 
WSU answered with a 9-0 run to pull within one (20-19) with just over eight minutes left in the first half as sophomore Chuck Key (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech) scored four points and junior Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) contributed a triple.
 
The Warriors trailed by one (22-21 and 24-24) as Lewis made a lay-up and sophomore Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) scored his lone points of the first half on a triple.
 
Northwood responded with a 10-0 spurt to take an 11 point lead at 35-24.  The Timberwolves ended the first half on a 13-6 run for a 48-30 lead at intermission.
 
NU was 10-of-17 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, while also making 8-of-9 from the foul line.
 
In the second half, the Warrior deficit ranged from 16 to 23 points over the first 10 minutes before a bucket by Damion Rashford (Pickering, Ont.) cut the margin to 15 (89-74) with just under 2:30 remaining.
 
WSU LEADERS
Booth led the Warriors with a game-high 29 points, including 26 in the second half.  Lewis added 19 points, Key had 14 points off the bench and sophomore George Spencer (Detroit, Mich. / Belleville) totaled 10 points.
 
Sophomore Tom Cotter (Williamston, Mich.) grabbed a career-best seven rebounds to lead the Warriors, while Booth dished out a team-best four assists.
 
TEAM STATS RECAP
WSU shot 49 percent (32-of-66) from the floor compared to 52 percent (30-of-58) for Northwood.
 
The Timberwolves made 17 triples (in 30 attempts), while the Warriors connected six times from long range (in 15 attempts).
 
NU made 17-of-19 from the foul line (90 percent) with WSU making 83 percent (10-of-12) from the charity stripe.
 
LEADING THE OPPOSITION
Jermaine Myers totaled a team-high 22 points to lead five Timberwolves in double figures.  Guard Maurice Jones led NU with nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.
 
UP NEXT
Wayne State continues its weekend road trip with a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday at Lake Superior State.