Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Wayne State University Athletics

Avery Lewis Action
Zack Belsky/WSU Athletics
Avery Lewis recorded a game-high 24 points.
58
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 7-12,4-8 GLIAC
63
Winner Northern Mich. NMU 17-6,9-4 GLIAC
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne
7-12,4-8 GLIAC
58
Final
63
Northern Mich. NMU
17-6,9-4 GLIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Wayne St. (MI) Wayne 36 22 58
Northern Mich. NMU 32 31 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Strong Start By Men's Hoops Dissolves Into 63-58 Setback At NMU

Lewis and Williams post game-high totals of 24 points and 10 rebounds, respectively.

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- A strong start by the Wayne State University men's basketball team (7-12 overall, 4-8 GLIAC), in which the Warriors raced out to a 27-10 lead, preceded a strong run by the host Northern Michigan Wildcats (17-6 overall, 9-4 GLIAC) who notched a 63-58 triumph over WSU in an 11 a.m. start on Saturday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
After NMU's Max Weisbrod scored on the hosts opening possession, Wayne State answered with seven consecutive points on a jumper by junior Ray Williams, Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Edison Public School Academy), a triple by junior Kaimen Lennox (Kansas City, Mo. / Truman H.S.) and a lay-up by senior Antonio Marshall (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King).

WSU had an eight-point advantage (12-4) following a lay-up by senior Avery Lewis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) five minutes into the contest.  After a bucket by Wildcat Sam Schultz cut the Warrior advantage to six (16-10), Wayne State rattled off 11 consecutive points that began with a Lewis lay-up followed by three straight triples by freshman guard Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher).

Northern Michigan responded with a 10-0 run prior to a Marshall shot from beyond the arc which made it 30-20 in favor of WSU with 5:21 left before intermission.

Two free throws by Lewis extended the lead to 12 (32-20), but the Wildcats ended the half on a 12-4 spurt to reduce their deficit to four (36-32) at halftime.

Second Half
NMU began the second half with four straight points to knot the game at 36-36.  The Warriors tallied the next four points on back-to-back lay-ups by Lewis in just over a 30-second span prior to the first media timeout.

Wayne State maintained a lead until two Sam Privet foul shots with 11:27 remaining gave the hosts a 44-43 lead, but Marshall answered with a triple with just under nine minutes left.  An old-fashioned three-point play by Lewis snapped a 46-46 draw.  However, a Carson Smith three with just under six minutes remaining put the Wildcats in front for good at 51-49.

WSU went for 1-for-7 from the floor (3-of-4 from the charity stripe) over the next five minutes as the Warriors never got closer than three points the rest of the game.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 35 percent (22-of-63) from the floor compared to NMU's 45 percent (22-of-49).  WSU was just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half after making six triples in the opening 20 minutes to finish 7-of-24 (29 percent) from three-point range.  The Wildcats shot 29 percent (5-of-17) from beyond the arc.  The Warriors made 7-of-11 foul shots (64 percent), while Northern Michigan was 14-of-21 (67 percent).  Northern Michigan had a slight edge on the glass, 38-34.  Wayne State had just five turnovers in the contest.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Lewis led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, while Williams grabbed a game-best 10 boards.  Harris returned to the lineup after missing back-to-back games and connected on three triples in scoring 12 points.

LEADING THE WILDCATS
GLIAC leading scorer Max Bjorklund was held below his average but still managed a team-high 16 points.  Smith contributed eight points and a team-best eight rebounds.

UP NEXT
Wayne continues its road trip with a 7:30 p.m. match-up on Thursday (Feb. 9) at Ferris State.


 
Print Friendly Version