DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (2-8 overall, 2-5 GLIAC) fell 90-75 Thursday evening to Hillsdale College (9-2, 5-2 GLIAC) at the Matthaei.

HOW IT HAPPENED
There were six lead changes and five ties in the first 14 minutes with neither team leading by more than four points.

Wayne State led 28-25 following a tip-in by junior Michael Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) with 6:45 remaining in the first half.

Following an offensive rebound and bucket by HC's Kyle Cooper, the GLIAC's leading scorer, the Chargers connected for six triples in a span of 3:43 to turn a one-point deficit into a 12-point advantage (46-34) with 78 seconds left before intermission.  Stedman Lowry drained five of the long range shots with Cooper making one triple.

Hillsdale shot 60 percent (18-of-30) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including 69 percent (11-of-16) from beyond the arc.  Lowry was 7-of-8 on three pointers in scoring 24 first half points.  Lewis led the Warriors with 13 points before halftime as WSU shot 42 percent (14-of-33) in the first half.

The Chargers lead grew from 13 (48-35) at intermission to 20 (64-44) in the first six minutes of the second half.  A lay-up by sophomore Ronald Booth (Detroit, Mich. / Consortium) with just over 13 minutes remaining cut the WSU deficit to 18 (64-46).   Hillsdale increased its advantage to 25 (79-54) over the next 4:30 prompting Warrior head coach David Greer to give significant playing time to many role players over the final 8:23.

However, HC head coach John Tharp left a majority of his starters in the game including Cooper until 5:22 left along with a 30 point lead (86-56).  After WSU pulled within 25 (86-61) with 3:33 left, Tharp inserted Cooper and another starter, John Pretzer, back into the game for the next three minutes finally pulling them with 33 seconds left.

WSU LEADERS

Booth tallied a team-high 20 points, while Lewis chipped in with 17 points.  Senior Darius Stevens () grabbed a team-best seven rebounds in the final eight minutes of the contest.

TEAM STATS RECAP

WSU shot 38 percent from both the floor (27-of-71) and also from three-point range (3-of-8), while making 62 percent (18-of-29) from the free throw line.  Meanwhile, Hillsdale shot 53 percent (33-of-62) from the floor and 50 percent (16-of-32) from behind the arc.  The Chargers made 8-of-15 shots from the foul line (53 percent).  Wayne State had a 44-42 edge in rebounding with a 23-9 margin in second-chance points.

LEADING THE OPPOSITION

Lowry finished 8-of-16 from three-point range in scoring a game-high 31 points.  Cooper notched a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds.  Zach Miller dished out 12 assists.

UP NEXT

Wayne State continues its homestand with a 3 p.m. start on Saturday against Saginaw Valley State.