PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (1-2 overall) earned its first win of the season with a thrilling 74-73 triumph at Lake Erie College (0-2 overall) Thursday evening.  It was the first head coaching win for WSU Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Smothers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
In a back-and-forth first 8:30 of the contest, the game was tied five times with neither team leading by more than three points.  The Storm had a 4-0 run for a 26-21 advantage at the 10:34 mark.  WSU answered with a 6-0 spurt on buckets by Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher), Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) and Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron).

The Warriors led 33-28 at the 5:33 mark as Marshall connected on a pair of free throws, then extended their margin to six (36-30) on a jumper by Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy).

After Wayne State took a 42-33 lead on a steal and dunk by Kaimen Lennox (Kansas City, Mo. / Truman HS), Lake Erie scored six of the final 10 points of the first half cutting WSU's halftime lead to 46-39.

Second Half
A jumper by Harris on the first possession of the second half increased the Warrior margin to nine points (48-39).  WSU maintained a lead between four and eight points for the next seven-plus minutes. 

A Jacob Plantz jumper pulled the Storm within two at 56-54 at the 12:00 mark.  After LEC knotted the game at 56-56, Cortez Jackson (Harper Woods, Mich. / St. Clair Shores Lake Shore) drained a triple and Williams followed with lay-up.  Wayne State held a lead until the 3:10 mark when PJ Jones of the Storm connected from long range.

A basket by Marshall with 75 seconds remaining put WSU in front 72-70.  After an offensive foul on Lake Erie, a lay-up by Marshall made it 74-70 with 42 seconds left.  LEC's Jordan Burton drained a triple with 30 seconds left, but a turnover by the Warriors was followed by three missed field goal attempts by the Storm.  Marshall missed the front end of a one-and-one and after a Lake Erie miscue gave the ball back to WSU.  Lewis missed the front end of a one-and-one and Lake Erie's desperation heave hit the shot clock above the rim.

TEAM STATS
Both teams made 28 field goals, including six triples.  Wayne State shot 51 percent (28-of-55) from the floor, while LEC was 28-of-64 (44 percent).  WSU made 6-of-14 (43 percent) from beyond the arc, compared to the Storm 6-of-25 (24 percent).  The difference was at the charity stripe as the Warriors made 12 (of 19 attempts) for 63 percent, while Lake Erie was 11-of-17 (64.7 percent).

LEC had a 40-26 edge in rebounding, including a 15-3 advantage in offensive boards, which led to an 18-5 margin in second-chance points.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Harris and Williams tied for game-high scoring honors with 17 points apiece.  Marshall added 15 points, while Lennox chipped in with 11 points.  Lewis contributed 10 points off the bench.  Williams grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

LEADING THE STORM
Plantz tallied a team-high 16 points, while Jonny Manning added 11 points.  Kevin Peterson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will host Tiffin at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Wayne State Fieldhouse.

Notes:  The road win snapped a 14-game road losing streak (12 road plus two neutral site) for the Warriors.  The last win was a 64-60 triumph at Ashland on February 16, 2021.  WSU went 0-2 in neutral site games the rest of the 2020-21 campaign, then 0-11 on the road last year, and lost at Hillsdale in the season opener last Friday.