Men's Basketball 12/22/2023 10:00:00 AM Cooper Weidenthaler, Sports Communications Specialist

Men's Basketball to Host Fanshawe College in 2023 Finale

The Warriors host the Falcons in their final non-conference contest of the regular season.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the 2023-24 season on Saturday, December 30 when it hosts Fanshawe College out of London, Ontario at 1 p.m.

STORYLINES
Wayne State will play its final non-conference game of the 2023-24 regular season on Saturday, December 30 when it hosts Fanshawe College. Out of London, Ontario, the Falcons play in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA).

The Warriors are coming off a 1-1 trip to Quincy, Ill., for the Hawks' Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic. There, WSU defeated William Jewell 76-72 in a neutral site affair, before falling to host QU, 66-55.

Carmelo Harris was one of six players named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in Wayne State's two contests.

WSU will be playing inside the Fieldhouse for the fifth time this season where they are 3-1 and have won three straight contests.

THE SERIES
Wayne State men's basketball will be facing Fanshawe College for the first time ever.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The Falcons are coached by 12th-year veteran Tony Marcotullio. So far this season, Marcotullio and his team have gone 5-5 with all 10 games coming within OCAA play. Putting up nearly 82 points per outing, FC boasts five players averaging in double figures in Aidan Whalen (17.7 PPG), Azad Chahal (15.4 PPG), Jack Tunstill (15.0), Josh Loblaw (14.0) and Terence Williams (13.5). Tunstill (7.0 RPG) is the squad's top rebounder, while Williams is dishing out 3.3 assists per contest.

LAST TIME OUT - AT QUINCY
QU opened the scoring on its first possession with a lay-up from Nate Shockey, before a triple by senior Ray Williams, Jr. gave WSU a 3-2 edge 1:06 into the contest. That would be the first of three such lead changes in the opening frame, all in the first five minutes of action. Zion Richardson's three-pointer put Quincy ahead 5-3 at the two-minute mark, while Williams, Jr. was good on a jumper to regain the lead for the guests (7-5). Despite two tied scores (10-10 and 13-13), the Warriors led for the rest of the period. Five quick points from freshman guard Rob Lee, Jr. between 8:39 and 8:14 stretched WSU's advantage to seven (27-20). The Hawks tallied the next four points on a dunk from Mason Wujek and a pair of free throws by Richardson to cut the deficit once again to three (27-24) with 7:35 remaining. Sophomore guard Chris Mutebi's first points of the season came on a lay-up with 7:15 left. He then made a free throw for the Warriors' 30th point of the afternoon.

Over the final 3:39, the hosts out-scored the guests 9-4. In that span, Richardson notched five points to finish the opening half with 15. The Green and Gold made just one of five field goal attempts in the final four minutes. However, the visitors shot 45 percent (13-of-29) from the field in the first 20 minutes, which outpaced Quincy's 11-of-30 (37 percent).

Seven points were totaled between the two squads in the first 1:35, including two lay-ups from sophomore center Matt Coffey and a triple from Richardson. Neither team lit up the scoreboard between 18:25 and 13:57, a span of nearly four and a half minutes. A lay-up by sophomore center Kareem Aburashed put WSU ahead by four (42-38), but the Hawks nabbed their first lead since the early portion of the game after Richardson's lay-up with 11:37 left. WSU and QU exchanged the lead four times between 11:14 and 9:51, but Quincy prevailed with the lead (45-44) for good following a lay-up from Isaiah Foster with 9:51 to play.

The host squad out-scored the Green and Gold 21-9 over that final 9:51 to emerge with an 11-point triumph. Foster (eight points), Shockey (six), and Wujek (four) were responsible for 18 of those points. Wayne State went just 2-of-12 from the floor down the stretch.
Neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field. Wayne State went 19-of-50 (38 percent) from the floor, while Quincy was 22-of-58 (38 percent). The Hawks drained nine of their 21 three-point attempts (43 percent), with the Warriors shooting 30 percent (7-of-23). QU also had a better percentage from the charity stripe, making 13-of-18 (72 percent) compared to WSU's 63 percent (10-of-16). The hosts out-rebounded the guests by three (32-29), while also posting more assists (12-7) and steals (10-5).

Harris scored a team-high 13 points as part of his All-Tournament Team performance. Freshman guard Jordan Briggs was the other Warrior in double figures with 12 points. Redshirt junior forward Colin Golson, Jr. had five rebounds to pace the squad.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's leading scorer with the fourth best mark in the GLIAC according to points per game is Carmelo Harris at 16.4 points per contest. Harris is one of five Warriors putting up at least 8.9 points per outing along with Colin Golson, Jr. (10.6), Ray Williams, Jr. (10.0 PPG), Matt Coffey (9.6) and Tamario Adley (8.9 PPG). Williams, Jr. is bringing down a team-high 6.7 rebounds per contest (tied-for-fourth in the GLIAC) and Golson, Jr. is right behind him with an average of 6.2. Assist wise, Harris is on top of the squad with 2.8 per game. Coffey (.636 field goal percentage - 4th) and Adley (.576 - 7th both rank among the top 10 in the GLIAC for efficiency.

LIVE ON WDTK
All men's basketball contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). Fans can also listen to the audio online at PatriotDetroit.com. This is the 22nd consecutive season WSU basketball has been aired on 1400 AM.

Kevin Brechmacher is in his eighth season calling the WSU men's games on WDTK. He will be joined on the broadcast of home games by either Chuck Key (2014-18), Marcus Moore (2014-18) or Andy Dold (1998-2002), all former Warriors.

In addition, every men's basketball GLIAC contest will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the GLIAC agreement with FloSports. In addition, all home non-conference games for the men will also be on FloHoops.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed: C; 6' 10"; Sophomore

#5 Tamario Adley: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#2 Jordan Briggs: G; 5' 11"; Freshman

#44 Matt Coffey: C; 6' 8"; Sophomore

#1 Colin Golson, Jr.: F; 6' 5"; Redshirt Junior

#11 Carmelo Harris: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

#10 Chris Mutebi: G; 6' 3"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed
: 6' 10"; Sophomore
: C

#5 Tamario Adley
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Jordan Briggs
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: G

#44 Matt Coffey
: 6' 8"; Sophomore
: C

#1 Colin Golson, Jr.
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#11 Carmelo Harris
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

#10 Chris Mutebi
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: G

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