EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (12-7 overall) had its 2020-21 campaign come to a close with a 76-61 setback to Ashland University (15-8 overall) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  WSU had defeated AU both times during the GLIAC regular season as the Warriors claimed the conference's regular-season title with a 12-5 league ledger.

In its first March Madness game in eight years, the Wayne State jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the first two minutes as senior Brailen Neely (Detroit, Mich. / Western International) connected from long range on the game's opening possession.  After an Eagle triple, junior Darian Owens-White (Detroit, Mich. / River Rouge) made a jumper, but AU answered with a lay-up before Owens-White drained a shot from beyond the arc.

An 8-1 Ashland run put WSU down 13-9.  An Owens-White jumper in the paint pulled the Warriors within two (13-11), and just over two minutes later a lay-up by freshman Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) made it a one-point game at 16-15.  Back-to-back three pointers by Ashland's Hunter Shedenhelm extended the deficit to seven points (22-15) with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half.

After a Neely lay-up cut the deficit to five (22-17), Ashland scored the next seven points until a lay-up by sophomore Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) made it a 10-point contest (29-19).

Wayne State out-scored the Eagles 11-5 to pull within four (34-30), but AU's Brandon Haraway scored in the final seconds before halftime.

Haraway then scored on the first possession of the second half to extend the Ashland advantage to eight (38-30).

Neely made two foul shots at the 17:00 mark, cutting the margin to five (41-36), but an 8-2 run by AU pushed the lead to 11 (49-38).

The Warriors were within six (49-43) with just under 12 minutes left after a 5-0 spurt, but Ashland answered with a 12-3 run for a 61-46 lead prior to a dunk by junior Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King).

AU's Ethan Conley scored five straight points and Wayne State could never get the deficit under 13 the rest of the way.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Neely tied for game-high scoring honors with 14 points, while Lewis added 13 points and four assists.  Owens-White totaled 12 points and Marshall posted a seven-point, nine-rebound performance.

LEADING THE EAGLES
Aaron Thompson led four AU players in double figures with 14 points, while both Haraway and Shedenhelm contributed 13 points.  Conley chipped in with 10 points off the bench.  Haraway had a game-high six assists.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 45 percent (23-of-51) from the floor, while AU connected on 51 percent (28-of-55) of its field goal attempts.  WSU was just 3-of-11 (27 percent) from three-point range, while the Eagles were 9-of-25 (36 percent) from beyond the arc.  Free throw shooting was pretty even as the Warriors were 12-of-18 (67 percent) compared to Ashland's 65 percent (11-of-17).  Wayne State had a 36-24 edge in rebounding, but 18 Warrior miscues led to an 18-5 AU margin in points off turnovers.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will open its new arena next fall.