DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (5-15 overall, 2-14 GLIAC) overcame a 12-point deficit with 2:41 left in regulation to stun Purdue Northwest (8-16 overall, 3-13 GLIAC) 80-79 in overtime inside the Matthaei on Thursday night. The victory snapped a 12-game losing streak and was the team's first win at home this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior guard
Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) gave the Warriors a 6-2 lead early in the first half with a layup at the 18:39 mark. Wayne State led 8-6 at the arrival of the game's first media timeout with 15:38 left in the stanza. Sophomore guard
LJ DeWolf (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ann Arbor Huron) connected from deep to put WSU ahead 11-10 and a dunk from sophomore guard
Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) made it 13-12 at the 12:10 mark. Senior guard
Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) found freshman forward
Nate Talbot (Lake Orion, Mich.) in transition, giving the Green & Gold a 15-13 advantage with 9:27 to play. Jyrus Freels gave the Pride a 21-17 lead with a layup at the 8:08 mark. A triple by Chandler Spring extended the visitor's lead to nine, 26-17, with 6:47 left to play before halftime. Another three-pointer from DeWolf trimmed the deficit to six, 26-20 at the 5:19 mark. Neely knocked down a long-range jumper to bring WSU within four, 29-25, with just over three minutes to play. PNW answered with a triple from Timothy Gilmore which pushed the Pride's advantage to 10 points, 35-25, at the 1:06 mark and that would be the score at intermission.
A pair of three-pointers to start the second half stretched the Purdue Northwest lead to 41-25 at the 18:04 mark. A jumper by Murray followed by a bucket from Talbot slowed PNW's momentum and cut the deficit to 41-29 with 17 minutes remaining. Neely found room for a layup bringing WSU within 13, 44-31, at the 16:31 mark. The margin remained at 13, 49-36, after a Murray jumper with 14 minutes left. Two points from graduate forward
James Gordon IV (Shelbyville, Ky. / Chicago Simeon) trimmed the Pride's lead to 10 points at 56-46 at the 9:48 mark. A trey by Neely made it a nine-point game, 58-49, with 9:14 left in regulation. Neely connected again from behind the arc at the 6:38 mark, bringing the Warriors within eight (60-52). Neely stayed hot and two more points kept WSU within 12, 66-54, with 3:38 to play. The Warriors stormed back with a 16-3 run to trim deficit to one, 69-68 at the 32-second mark. Neely kept it a one-point game, 71-70, with a layup with eight seconds left on the clock. With time expiring, Marshall was fouled behind the arc and converted one of his three free throw attempts to tie the game at 71-71.
Murray started the extra session with a bucket to put the Warriors on top 73-71 at the 3:57 mark. Spring leveled the score at 75-75 with 2:59 remaining before Murray helped Wayne State regain the lead at 77-75 with a bucket on the next possession. An old-fashioned three-point play from Freels gave the Pride a 78-77 advantage. However, Marshall redeemed himself with a triple from the elbow to give WSU an 80-78 lead at the 1:31 mark. Anthony Barnard made one of his two free throws to cut the Warrior lead to one (80-79) and Purdue Northwest could not take advantage of a home turnover. Game-winning attempts from Durante Lee and Barnard drew only iron and the Warriors collected a thrilling one-point victory.
LEADING THE WARRIORS
Neely led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range to go with his nine assists. Murray tallied 21 points, while Marshall tallied 10 points. Gordon grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
LEADING THE PRIDE
Freels led the Pride with 24 points and pulled down 10 boards. Spring (14), Timothy Gilmore (12), Jordan Doss (12), and Barnard (10) all finished in double figures. Gilmore also collected 11 rebounds to notch a double-double.
ONE BIG THING
Purdue Northwest turned the ball over 26 times, leading to 29 points for Wayne State.
UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Parkside on Saturday and tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
