Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics

Box Score

Nate Talbot tallied 15 points and seven rebounds on Senior Day.

Grand Valley St. GVSU 16-10,10-6 GLIAC

Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 8-15,5-11 GLIAC

Grand Valley St. GVSU

16-10,10-6 GLIAC

Final

Feb. 18, 2023

Wayne St. (MI) Wayne

8-15,5-11 GLIAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Grand Valley St. GVSU	38	33	71
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne	27	40	67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 2/18/2023 5:48:00 PM | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Men's Basketball Drops Home Finale, 71-67, On Senior Day

Lennox and Talbot combine for 36 points.

DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (8-15 overall, 5-11 GLIAC) fell 71-67 to visiting Grand Valley State University (16-10 overall, 10-6 GLIAC) Saturday afternoon at the Wayne State Fieldhouse on Senior Day.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The game was tied three times in the first 7:20 with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage - WSU led 9-6 on bucket by freshman Matt Coffey (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King). The Lakers scored the next 15 points to grab a 21-9 lead as the Warriors were scoreless for over four minutes.

GVSU had a 16-point margin (29-13) before a pair of free throws by junior Kaimen Lennox (Kansas City, Mo. / Truman H.S.) with 5:30 remaining in the first half. The visitors lead remained between 12 and 15 points until late in the opening stanza when WSU scored the final four points before intermission to trail by 11 (38-27) after 20 minutes.

Second Half
Wayne State tallied the first five points of the second half to reduce its deficit to six (38-32) following a lay-up by Lennox and a triple by senior Kylin Grant (Detroit, Mich. / Renaissance). WSU trailed by 12 (49-37) with 15 minutes left and then by 11 (51-40) with just under 12 minutes remaining.

The Warriors mounted a comeback starting with a conventional three-point play by senior Nate Talbot (Lake Orion, Mich.) and then Talbot grabbed an offensive rebound and scored cutting the margin to six (51-45). After a GVSU basket, Coffey converted an old-fashioned three-point play, then on the ensuing offensive possession, junior Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy) made a jumper following an offensive rebound making it a three-point contest (53-50) with 7:45 left.

WSU again trailed by three (59-56) with 4:25 remaining after two free throws by Williams. After a mini 4-0 run by the Lakers, freshman Justice Gordon (Brampton, Ont.) drained a triple at the two-minute mark making it 63-59. Grand Valley answered with the next four points prior to a long-range shot by Lennox cutting the margin to five (67-62) with 0:55 remaining.

A triple by Lennox with seven seconds left pulled the Warriors to within three (70-67), but GVSU's Trevor Smith made the first of two free throws to complete the scoring.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 38 percent (24-of-64) from the floor, while GVSU connected on 25-of-59 field goal attempts (42 percent). WSU made just 7-of-25 triple tries (28 percent) compared to the Lakers 41 percent (7-of-17). The Warriors were just 12-of-18 (67 percent) from the charity stripe, with Grand Valley making 70 percent (14-of-20) of its foul shots. GVSU had a 43-41 edge in rebounding, while the Lakers held a 40-11 advantage in bench scoring along with a 17-9 margin in fast-break points.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Lennox had a game-high 21 points and dished out five assists. Talbot contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, while Williams nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

LEADING THE LAKERS
Marius Grazulis and Chinedu Kingsley Okanu tied for team-high scoring honors with 13 points apiece, with Grazulis grabbing a game-best 11 rebounds. Okanu chipped in with four steals and two blocks.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will conclude the regular-season with a pair of road contests this coming week starting Thursday evening in Kenosha, Wis. at Parkside. Tip-off is slated for 8:30 p.m. Eastern time following the women's contest.

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