DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (0-0 overall) opens the season with two games as part of the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge.  The Warriors will play Ohio Dominican (0-0 overall) on Friday night before hosting Lake Erie (0-0 overall) on Sunday afternoon.

STORYLINES
Head coach David Greer begins his 18th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He will equal the school record for years as head men's basketball coach in 2018-19, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench.  Greer's challenge will be to replace the top four scorers from a season ago.

THE SERIES
Wayne State has an 8-3 advantage in the all-time series versus Ohio Dominican (3-2 on the road).  The Warriors have won the last two meetings, ending a three-game winning streak by the Panthers.  Friday's meeting will be the first contest that is not a GLIAC matchup.

Wayne State leads 10-1 in the all-time series against Lake Erie, with all 11 meetings coming in the Coach Greer era.  The Warriors have won the last four meetings, after the Storm collected their first victory on Jan. 22, 2015, in Painesville.  WSU is 6-0 inside the Matthaei in the series.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Ohio Dominican was predicted to finish fourth in the G-MAC and is coming off its best season since the 2007-08 campaign with a record of 20-11 and a 12-8 conference mark. ODU has consistently improved under sixth-year head coach Dan Evans, increasing its win total from the previous year in each season since 2013-14.  Redshirt junior Hasan Varence is the team's top returner as the 6-6 forward garnered second team All G-MAC honors a year ago. A year ago, Varence averaged 14.3 points per game, while bringing down 9.8 rebounds per contest for the Panthers.

Lake Erie, who is led by head coach Kyle Conley, had a season record of 16-14 a year ago, including a 10-10 finish in G-MAC play.  Lake Erie went into the league tournament as the No. 7 seed and defeated No. 2 Walsh for the third time that season to reach the semifinals.  Gabe Kynard, Jr. returns for the Storm after averaging 15.6 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per contest last season, both tops on the team, on his way to being named to the G-MAC All-League Team.

LAST TIME OUT
Fans were able to get their first look at this year's squad in an exhibition contest at Detroit Mercy on Nov. 3rd.  The teams were tied at 40-40 after 20 minutes.  Detroit led by eight (73-65) with just 61 seconds remaining, but a jumper by Javon Henderson preceded three consecutive triples by the Warriors from Latin Davis, Jr., Antonio Marshall and sophomore Jacob Joubert, which knotted the contest at 76-76 with 13.2 seconds remaining.

Detroit's Josh McFolley connected on a three-pointer with 1.8 on the clock to give the hosts the victory.

Darian Owens-White had a team-high 18 points, while Davis, Jr. chipped in with 15 points and tied Owens-White for game-high assist honors with six.  Xavier Cochran added 12 points, while Karim Murray nearly had a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.

SEASON OUTLOOK
WSU will need to find a way to replace three 1,000-point scorers as Chuck Key, Marcus Moore and Ronald Booth all graduated.  In addition, George Spencer, who averaged over 11 points per game as a senior, also graduated.  The Warriors won 15 games during the 2017-18 campaign, including a 10-5 mark at home.  However, a home quarterfinal loss ended the postseason run earlier than expected.  Senior guard Latin Davis, Jr. and junior guard Karim Murray will be looked to for offensive production.

In addition, sophomore point guard Darian Owens-White returns after playing in 25 games a season ago.  Senior center Tristan Wilson has his sights set on a healthy season after missing much of the last two years due to injury.

PRESEASON POLL
Wayne State University was selected to finish fourth in the GLIAC South Division in the annual GLIAC Preseason Poll.  The Warriors received 27 points, which places them in a tie with Saginaw Valley State.

Ashland is the preseason favorite to win the South Division, earning 60 points and 10 first-place votes, while Grand Valley State is picked to finish second with 51 points and two first-place votes.  Davenport was tabbed for third with 36 points.  Reigning national champion Ferris State is predicted to win the GLIAC North Division with 59 points and nine first-place votes.  Northern Michigan was the runner-up in the North Division poll with 47 points and three first-place votes.

DEFENSE WINNING GAMES
Wayne State ranked second in the GLIAC and 32nd nationally in scoring defense last season, allowing just 69.0 points per game.   WSU was especially stingy against the three-pointer, as opponents shot just 32.5 percent, which was the 17th best three-point defense in Division II.

HISTORICAL VICTORY
Last season, the men's basketball program won its 800th game (76-73 over GVSU on Nov. 30th) as Wayne State University (1956-present).  In the 101 years of basketball, WSU has won 1,228 games (first 60 as Detroit Junior College [1918-23], 120 as College of the City of Detroit/CCD [1924-34], and 235 as Wayne University [1934-56]).

COMCAST/XFINITY
Every home men's basketball game in 2019 will be aired live throughout the state of Michigan on Comcast/CN 900.  Sean Baligian (play-by-play), Rod Beard (analyst) and Joe Abramson (sideline) will call the action.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standouts Ian Larkin and Mike Lewis will serve as analysts during home broadcasts during the 2018-19 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.