Men's Basketball 1/31/2024 4:34:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Hoops to Head West for Pair of Road Contests

The Warriors will begin the second half of their GLIAC schedule at Parkside on Thursday.

STORYLINES
Set for the second half of the GLIAC season, Wayne State will start that nine-game stretch on the road at Parkside on Thursday and Purdue Northwest on Saturday. The Warriors are 1-6 in true road games so far this season, but will look to flip the script this week in the central time zone.

Since defeating Wayne State back on Jan. 6, Parkside has encountered some trouble of its own. The Rangers have been on the wrong end of the scoreboard in four of their last five outings since that triumph in Detroit.

Purdue Northwest has been victorious in two of its last three contests and three of its previous five. All but three of the Pride's nine losses have come by single digits and one of those three double-digit defeats was at the hand of the Warriors, 78-68, on Jan. 4.

THE SERIES
Wayne State trails 9-16 in the all-time series with Parkside, but has won nine of the 13 all-time meetings against Purdue Northwest. With that being said, it's been tough sledding for the Warriors on the road when facing these two schools. WSU is 3-10 at UWP and 1-4 at PNW.

SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Parkside, the 2022-23 GLIAC Regular-Season Champion, is coached by 21st-year man Luke Reigel, the league's reigning Coach of the Year. This season, the Rangers rank last in the conference in scoring offense (69.5 PPG), but second in scoring defense (66.1 PPG). Individually for UWP, a pair of players average double figures in the scoring department including redshirt junior forward Colin O'Rourke (14.2 PPG) and redshirt junior guard Josiah Palmer (14.1 PPG). O'Rourke is on top of the rebounding column with 5.7 per contest, while Palmer's 4.8 assists per performance are good for first in the league.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Led by sixth-year head coach Boomer Roberts, Purdue Northwest features two of the GLIAC's top 12 scorers in terms of points per game. Those two are graduate forward Brendan Temple (14.1 PPG) and senior guard CJ Jackson (13.8 PPG). Rebounding wise, the Pride are paced by a player that has come in off the bench for all 19 games in junior guard/forward Dalton Gayman and his 6.1 boards per contest. Ranking fourth in the league in scoring as a team (78.1 PPG), PNW's floor general has been Temple with 3.6 APG, a mark that's good for fifth in the conference.

LAST TIME OUT - VS. LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
There were two lead changes in the first four-plus minutes with second coming as WSU took a 6-5 lead on a jumper by sophomore Matt Coffey. Eighty seconds later, sophomore Carmelo Harris connected on a jumper, before the Lakers knotted the game at 8-8 on a triple by Omar Suleiman at the 13:59 mark. The Warriors scored seven of the next nine points for a 15-10 advantage on a triple by junior Colin Golson, Jr.

The lead remained between three and five points until a lay-up by freshman Rob Lee, Jr. extended the margin to seven (19-12) just before the mid-point of the first half. This time the lead remained between five and seven points until a fast-break jumper by freshman Jordan Briggs pushed the lead to nine (25-16) with 5:20 left before intermission.

A 6-0 run by Lake Superior State ended with another three-pointer from Golson, Jr. LSSU tallied the next five points to pull within one at 28-27 with 2:13 left before halftime. Golson, Jr. split a pair from the charity stripe giving the hosts a 29-27 lead after 20 minutes. Golson, Jr. led all scorers with 13 points in the opening stanza.

Wayne State's lead was one (31-30) after a triple from Tyson Edmondson 76 seconds after intermission. Harris answered with his lone triple of the game, and two minutes later a dunk by Coffey made it a six-point contest (38-32) with 16:30 remaining.

The Lakers cut their deficit to one (41-40) on Edmondson's second long range shot of the half at the 14:43 mark. A jumper by LSSU's Kingsley Perkins tied the game at 42-42 a minute later, and Nino Carter-Smith followed with a conventional three-point play giving the guests a 45-42 lead, their first edge since 5-4.

Golson, Jr. responded with five consecutive points, then Lee, Jr. drained a shot from beyond the arc for a 50-45 advantage. LSSU's Xander Okerlund split a pair from the charity stripe, as did Coffey. Briggs then made a lay-up and completed the old-fashioned three-point play with a free throw, and made 1-of-2 foul shots on the ensuing possession to extend the margin to nine (55-46) with 9:07 left.

The advantage was nine (59-50) with 8:08 remaining after a triple from Lee, Jr. Lake Superior State answered with 11 consecutive points as the Warriors went scoreless from 8:07 until 0:22 (span of 7:45). Wayne State tied the game at 61-61 on a lay-up by Lee, Jr. with 22 seconds left. However, LSSU's Devin Womack, who finished the game with six points, scored half of them with three seconds left on a lay-up and free throw.

The Lakers decided to foul when WSU brought the ball to mid-court. Sophomore Tamario Adley made the first four shot and intentionally missed the second with Coffey grabbing the rebound, but his fade away jumper did not get off in time.

Golson, Jr. notched his second double-double of the campaign with a team-high 19 points, and a game-best 11 rebounds. Coffey chipped in with 12 points and seven boards, while Lee, Jr. contributed 11 points off the bench.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's leading scorer is Carmelo Harris at 13.1 points per contest thanks to seven games of at least 15 points. Harris is one of five Warriors putting up at least 8.4 points per outing, along with Ray Williams, Jr. (10.1 PPG), Matt Coffey (9.6), Colin Golson, Jr. (9.1) and Tamario Adley (8.4). Williams, Jr. is bringing down a team-high 5.7 rebounds per contest (tied-for-11th in the GLIAC), while Golson, Jr. (5.4) also averages at least five per game. Assist wise, Adley is on top of the squad with 3.3 per performance (10th in the GLIAC). Offensive efficiency wise, Coffey is second in the league for field goal percentage (.642) and Harris ranks first in free throw percentage (.925).

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.

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Players Mentioned

#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

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

Players Mentioned

#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

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