DETROIT -- Playing its first of three straight home games, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (1-2 overall) hosted Lewis (1-2 overall) on Saturday afternoon inside the Fieldhouse. Thanks to a 10-point halftime lead of 39-29, the Warriors were able to hold on for their first victory of the 2023-24 season, 84-72.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Lewis struck first and led by as many as five, 13-8 at the 13:59 mark.  Wayne State answered with a 15-4 run over the course of the next 4:21 to hold a six-point advantage, 23-17.  During that spurt, six different Warriors found the scoring column, including Kareem Aburashed (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day) with six points on a pair of triples.  From there until the end of the half, the closest the Flyers could get was four (23-19, 25-21).  The home team would push its advantage to as large as 10, 39-29, thanks to a three-pointer by Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) with just five seconds to play.

Second Half
Out of the break, the visitors scored four of the first six total points to cut the margin to eight, 41-33, the smallest it would get for the entirety of the second period.  After that, Wayne State would balloon its lead to as big as 14 on three different occasions (47-33, 66-52, 69-55).

TEAM STATS
Wayne State racked up 19 assists to just 10 turnovers and assisted on 19 of its 28 field goals.  The Warriors' bench outscored the Flyers' reserves 31-9.  In the first half alone, WSU shot an even 50 percent (16-of-32) to LU's 39.3 percent (11-of-28).  Lewis managed just four makes in 20 attempts (20 percent) from behind the arc while Wayne State was 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from deep.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Five Wayne State players scored in double-figures, including Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) with 19, Colin Golson, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Ferndale) with 16, Harris with 14, Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle) with 10 and Aburashed with 10.  Golson, Jr. finished with a double-double thanks to 10 rebounds to go with two assists and a block.  Harris dished out seven assists and Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) tallied a pair of steals.

LEADING THE FLYERS
Lewis had a pair of scorers with 20+ points including Gary Solomon's game-high 24 and Beau Frericks' 20.  Also reaching double-figures in points was Ryan Renfro with 11 as part of a double-double on 10 boards to go with his five assists.  Destin Logan and Solomon each notched two steals while Renfro and Rob Stroud had one block apiece.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will continue its three-game homestand on Tuesday against Lake Erie (1-3 overall) with the opening tip scheduled for 7 p.m.