JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball squad (0-1 overall) made a valiant second-half comeback in its season opener Friday evening at Lincoln University in Missouri (1-0 overall) but fell 55-52 to the Blue Tigers.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
Lincoln scored the first seven points of the game before a sophomore Jordan Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) triple and a dunk by junior Kevin Tamakloe (Accra, Ghana / Spring Creek Academy [Blinn College]) on back-to-back possessions for the Warriors to pull within two at 7-5.

The Blue Tigers scored 17 of the next 18 points for a 24-6 advantage before junior Tamario Adley (Detroit, Mich. / Warren De La Salle [Macomb CC]) sank a pair of foul shots.

After four straight points by LU, junior Kareem Aburashed (West Bloomfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day [Macomb CC]) drained a shot from beyond the arc, then sophomore Rob Lee, Jr. (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) made a pair of free throws.

Lincoln scored three of the final four points of the opening half in the final 2:40 to lead 31-14 at intermission.

Second Half
Adley scored WSU's first five points after halftime before Lee, Jr. scored on a driving lay-up and junior Carmelo Harris (Flint, Mich. / Beecher) connected from long range to pull within nine at 33-24 with 16:49 remaining.

After a Blue Tiger free throw, Harris drained another triple, then Lee, Jr. answered a Lincoln three-pointer with a dunk making it 36-29 for the hosts.

Following three points by LU, Lee, Jr. made a pair of foul shots.  A triple by junior Carlos Paul III (Southfield, Mich. / Cornerstone Lincoln-King [Missouri State - West Plains]) cut the deficit to six (42-36) with 7:42 remaining.

Harris answered a Blue Tiger triple with his third long-range shot of the second half, then connected on a turn-around jumper making it a five-point contest at 46-41.

Four straight points by LU preceded an offensive rebound and put-back by Paul III.

Two Lee, Jr. foul shots pulled WSU within four (52-48) with 89 seconds left.  On the defensive end, he grabbed a rebound then scored on a lay-up cutting the deficit to two (52-50) with 53 seconds remaining.

Harris made both ends of a one-and-one with four seconds left making it 53-52, before LU's Xavier Ball made two foul shots to seal the win.

TEAM STATS
Wayne State shot 30 percent (16-of-53) from the floor, compared to LU's 36 percent (18-of-50).  WSU connected on 44 percent (8-of-18) of its triple tries, while the Blue Tigers were 7-of-22 (32 percent).  Both teams made 12 free throws (WSU 12-of-19 / 63 percent; LU 12-of-17 / 71 percent).

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Harris tallied a game-high 16 points, which included four triples, while Lee, Jr. contributed 14 points.  Paul grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds.

LEADING THE BLUE TIGERS
Ball and Tyler Chapman each scored 14 points, while Franck Yetna recorded a team-best 10 boards.

UP NEXT
Wayne State continues its season-opening road trip with a Sunday afternoon contest (3:30 pm) at the University of Indianapolis.