Wayne State University Athletics

Men's Basketball 1/25/2021 8:34:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Men's Basketball Hosts Ashland On Tuesday

Warriors look to end two-game losing streak.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (3-3 GLIAC) will entertain Ashland University (4-3 overall, 4-2 GLIAC) on Tuesday with tip-off at 6:00 p.m. The Warriors lost twice at Northwood (74-67 and 67-66) this past weekend.

THE SERIES
WSU has a 32-28 advantage over Ashland in the all-time series. Wayne State is 20-11 at home in the series, which dates back to 1922. Warrior head coach David Greer is 19-16 (10-7 at home) against the Eagles in his 19-plus seasons with the Warriors. The teams split last season's two meetings with each road team escaping with a win.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Ashland is 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the league. AU won twice at Saginaw Valley State (71-67 OT and 58-57) this past weekend, following series splits with both Ferris State and Grand Valley State to begin the GLIAC portion of its schedule. Head coach John Ellenwood is in his 12th season leading the Eagles. Sophomore guard Brandon Haraway is leading the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game and is second in rebounding at 5.9 boards per contest, while redshirt senior guard Bo Furcron is averaging 12.3 points per night. Senior guard Aaron Thompson has a team-best 47 rebounds. As a team, AU is scoring 63.9 points per game, while allowing 63.4 points per night. The Eagles are shooting 41 percent from the floor, 37 percent from behind the arc and 74 percent at the charity stripe.

LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors lost twice at Northwood last week to fall to 3-3 overall. On Friday, WSU trailed by eight at intermission but could not achieve the comeback. Brailen Neely finished with 22 points, while Avery Lewis posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Ray Williams, Jr. tallied 11 points and a game-high 13 boards.

WSU trailed early on Saturday, rallied to lead late in the first half, but trailed 34-32 at halftime. In a back-and-forth second half, Neely made two free throws, giving WSU a 66-63 lead. A foul sent NU's Evan Lowden to the free throw line where he made the first, but missed the second on purpose. The ensuing scramble resulted in Northwood retaining possession. On an inbound play underneath the basket, Jack Ammerman drilled a fade-away corner triple to give the Timberwolves a 67-66 victory.

GLIAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Darian Owens-White was named GLIAC South Division Player of the Week on January 19th for the series sweep over Davenport.

It is the first weekly honor of his career and the first for a WSU men's basketball player since Brailen Neely earned the award on Feb. 17th last season.

In just his third and fourth games back after a 22-month hiatus due to an injury, redshirt junior Darian Owens-White is quickly finding his scoring touch.

After totaling 35 points in the opening weekend split at Lake Superior, Owens-White tallied 55 points in two home court victories over Davenport. For the week, he was 15-of-32 (47 percent) from the floor, including 9-of-14 (64 percent) from beyond the arc. Owens-White was a stellar 16-of-17 (94 percent) from the charity stripe, while adding nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. He is among the GLIAC leaders in three-pointers made per game at 2.2.

WSU BACKCOURT
The guard duo of Brailen Neely and Darian Owens-White should be fun to watch this season. Neely was a First Team All-GLIAC honoree last season and Owens-White was a Second Team selection in 2018-19 before missing the 2019-20 season due to an injury.

Neely averaged 19 points, 7.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game last season and Owens-White poured in 16.7 points per night along with 2.9 assists per contest, while shooting nearly 47 percent from behind the arc in 2018-19.

BENCH SCORING
It was a welcome sight to see WSU's bench carrying the weight in the season-opening win with 28 points, which is 10 more than the Warriors received in any game last year from non-starters.

The Green & Gold followed that with 17 points off the bench during the second contest vs. Davenport.

UNIQUE SCHEDULE
The 2021 Wayne State University men's basketball schedule will feature 18 GLIAC contests.

The GLIAC was divided into two divisions with each school playing the other five divisional opponents twice (two at home for a weekend; two on the road for a weekend; along with a home-and-home series with its travel partner). Each institution will play four of the six opponents in the other division (two at home for a weekend; two on the road for a weekend) for 18 games.

GREER BACK FOR 20th SEASON
Head coach David Greer is in his 20th season as the top man on the Warriors' bench. He surpassed the school record for years as head men's basketball coach last season. The previous mark was held by Newman Ertell (1929-48) and Joel Mason (1948-66) at 18 years on the WSU bench.

LIVE ON WDTK
Kevin Brechmacher will call every contest live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.

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Players Mentioned

#33 Avery Lewis: F; 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore

#11 Brailen Neely: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

#14 Darian Owens-White: G; 6' 1"; Redshirt Junior

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.: G/F; 6' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#33 Avery Lewis
: 6' 6"; Redshirt Sophomore
: F

#11 Brailen Neely
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior
: G

#14 Darian Owens-White
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#23 Ray Williams, Jr.
: 6' 4"; Freshman
: G/F