STORYLINES
Wayne State opens the 2019-20 season in the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge and will be facing two former GLIAC programs.  WSU hosts Ohio Dominican on Friday night before traveling to compete against Lake Erie on  Sunday.
 

The Warriors will look to build on flashes of solid play from a year ago. The Warriors finished 8-17 overall, including a 7-13 mark in GLIAC contests. WSU defeated defending national champion Ferris State (90-89), and GLIAC Tournament qualifiers Northern Michigan (73-51), Grand Valley State (86, 78), Parkside (71-70) and Northwood (77-76).
 

The team's leading scorer in junior guard Darian Owens-White returns after averaging 16.7 points per game. Senior guard Karim Murray was one the league's top rebounders, pulling down over seven boards per night. The athletic guard also averaged 11.4 points per game. Antonio Marshall is back after missing the second half of last season. In the 10 games he did play, he averaged six points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
 

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series 8-4 vs. Ohio Dominican, including a 5-1 mark at home.  All 12 meetings have come since David Greer was named head coach prior to the 2001-02 season.  The first 11 matchups came as GLIAC counterparts.  Last season, the Panthers topped WSU, 92-79, in Columbus as part of the GLIAC/G-MAC Challenge.  The Warriors won the first six meetings in the series that began in 2010.
 

WSU leads the all-time series vs. Lake Erie 10-2, including a 4-1 tally on the road.  The Storm won the last meeting, 77-67, in Detroit last season.  The Warriors had won four straight prior to that.  Similar to ODU, the first 11 meetings came when LEC was in the GLIAC.
 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Head coach Kelly Winter is in his first season leading the Ohio Dominican men's basketball program, after spending five seasons as an assistant coach with the Panthers.  ODU was picked to finish fifth in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 

The Panthers return 11 players from a year ago, including seven who played in at least 10 games last season.  Redshirt senior Hasan Varence and senior Sam Hickey are the team's top returners for the 2019-20 season.  The pair each earned First Team All-GMAC honors a year ago and also joined the 1,000-point club.  Last year, the 6-6 forward Varence averaged 16.2 points per contest on 52.6% shooting and 48% from three, while grabbing 12.5 rebounds per game which was second in the country.  Hickey led the team in scoring at 16.9 points per game on 43.6% shooting, while also grabbing 4.7 rebounds per contest.
 

Lake Erie was predicted to finish sixth in the G-MAC.  Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Kyle Conley, the Storm have qualified for the postseason the last two years and are coming off the best regular season in the program's Division II era. The Green & White went 17-12 overall and 12-8 in the league before they fell to Hillsdale in a tournament quarterfinal.
 

Senior guard Gabe Kynard returns after earning First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region accolades.  He joined the Storm's 1,000-point club and led the team at 18.2 points per game, which was fourth in the G-MAC.  Senior guard Erron James also earned postseason honors last year as an All-G-MAC Defensive Team selection.  He led the team and was third in the G-MAC in steals with 52 on the season, good for a 1.8 per game average.
 

SHARP SHOOTER
Junior Darian Owens-White is cementing himself as one of the better shooters in the GLIAC and in program history.  He led the league in three-point field goal percentage (.466 / 61-of-131) during the 2018-19 season.  For his career, Owens-White ranks fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.430 / 68-of-158 / min. 25 made) and is tied-for-22nd in school history in three-pointers made (68).
 

GREER BACK FOR 19TH SEASON
Head coach David Greer is in his 19th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench.  He equaled the school record for years as head men's basketball coach last season, joining Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench. 

OPENING THE SEASON AT HOME
The Warriors are 13-5 under Coach Greer in home openers, but 5-13 in season openers.  The last time WSU opened the season at home was to start the 2017-18 season against Alderson Broaddus.
 

FRESH FACES
The Warriors added seven newcomers during the offseason, including four transfers who hope to push the Green & Gold back into the postseason.  Three of those transfers are joining the squad from DI programs, including James Gordon IV (Toledo), Brailen Neely (Oakland) and Naji Ozeir (Michigan).  The other transfer is Avery Lewis, brother of former Warrior Michael Lewis, who will need to sit out this season due to GLIAC transfer rules.
 

The incoming freshmen include Kylin Grant (Detroit Renaissance), Nate Talbot (Lake Orion) and Cadin Augustine (Ypsilanti).
 

GLIAC PRESEASON POLL
Wayne State was picked to finish sixth in the GLIAC South Division in the Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released on Oct. 23rd.
 

Ferris State (55 points / six first-place votes) is the favorite to win the North Division with Parkside (51 points / five first-place votes) and Michigan Tech (45 points / one first-place vote) being the next two teams listed.  The rest of the divisional poll was Lake Superior State (33 points), Purdue Northwest (17 points) and Northern Michigan (15 points).
 

Davenport (61 points / 11 first-place votes) sits atop the South Division predictions, while Ashland (50 points / one first-place vote) and Grand Valley State (39 points) round out the top three.  Northwood (26 points), Saginaw Valley State (24 points) and Wayne State (16 points) make up the rest of the list.
 

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Former Warrior standout Mike Lewis will serve as an analyst for home broadcasts during the 2019-20 season.  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.