GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (7-7 overall, 4-3 GLIAC) won their second consecutive road game with an 80-66 defeat of Davenport University (5-12 overall, 1-6 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon inside the DU Student Center. The Warriors used a 17-0 run from the end of the first half through the beginning of the second half to pull away from the Panthers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The two teams played a competitive contest for nearly the first 18 minutes, exchanging the lead 10 times. WSU then went on to score the next 13 points over the final 2:55 of game action to take a nine-point lead to the half.

Junior Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) scored the first points of the affair with a lay-up before DU's Marcedus Leech, Jr. connected on a triple that gave the Panthers an early 3-2 lead. This would be the beginning of several lead changes throughout the opening frame. Davenport was able to grow their advantage to as high as seven before WSU closed the gap once again, with redshirt senior Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King) and graduate student Cortez Jackson (Harper Woods, Mich. / St. Clair Shores Lake Shore) each converting triple tries to cut the deficit to one. 

In the span from 6:58 to 4:07, Marshall was the lone Warrior point scorer, tallying 11 straight points for the club and keeping Wayne State even with the Panthers. The redshirt senior tied his career-high in points (24) before the second half even began. Marshall then assisted on a three-pointer from redshirt senior Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich / Huron) with 2:41 remaining. The triple was Lewis' second three of the season and began the 13-0 run WSU went on heading into intermission. Within the run, Lewis scored seven points with Marshall scoring four and Jackson garnering two. 

The Warriors shot an even 50 percent (18-of-36) from the floor in the first half, with the Panthers shooting 52 percent (13-of-25).

Second Half
Wayne State led the entire 20 minutes, as the closest Davenport could scratch their way back to was a five-point deficit. The Warriors continued their 13-0 run from the first half by scoring the four points in the first 1:38 of the second, with Lewis converting on a lay-up and Jackson good on a jumper. WSU's lead grew to 16 when Williams, Jr. drilled a three to hand the team their largest lead of the contest. 

Davenport clawed their way back into the game by going on an 11-0 run of their own just prior to the halfway point of the stanza. Leech, Jr. was the main catalyst for the Panthers, as he tallied the first eight points of the run. Jordan Sterling then made a three-pointer to close out the stretch. However, the Warriors responded and grew their lead back to 10 after another triple by Marshall, who had six for the contest. 

WSU and DU traded buckets for the better part of the final 10 minutes and the Panthers could never get back their hot hand. Marshall reached 30 points on a made three with just over two minutes left. He wasn't done just yet as he drained two more triples for good measure to give him 36 for the contest and putting him tied-for-eighth all-time in most points scored in a single game by a Warrior. The final bucket came with 51 seconds to play and gave the Warriors 80 points for the third time this season. 

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 46 percent (31-of-68) from the field, with Davenport two percent better at 48 percent (23-of-48). From three-point range, WSU went 11-of-25 (44 percent) with DU going 8-of-18 (44 percent) The Warriors converted on 7-of-8 of their free throws (88 percent) while the Panthers made 12 of their 17 tries (71 percent) from the charity stripe. The teams were even 32-32 in rebounding, with Wayne State doubling up Davenport in steals, 8-4.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Marshall's 36 points on 14-of-24 shooting and six triples were a game-high on both sides and the points more than doubled that of WSU's next best scorer, Lewis with 16. Lewis also contributed 13 rebounds for a double-double. Jackson was the other Warrior in double-figures with 13 points.

LEADING THE PANTHERS
Leech, Jr. and Sterling tied for the team-best in scoring as each recorded 23 points. They scored 46 of Davenport's 66 points.

UP NEXT
Wayne State won both games of their West Michigan trip this week and will now head back home, where they will face Lake Superior State on Thursday, January 17 and Ferris State on Saturday, January 21. Tip is at 7:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively.