DETROIT -- The 20-game GLIAC schedule begins this week for the Wayne State University men's basketball team (1-4 overall).  The Warriors will host Davenport (2-4 overall) on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. before welcoming Grand Valley State (4-2 overall) into the Fieldhouse on Saturday at 3 p.m.  Thursday's game is presented by Fieger Law.

STORYLINES
Wayne State earned its first victory of the season with an 84-54 triumph over Tiffin on Nov. 23.  However, the Warriors then dropped a road contest, 86-67, at Lewis the following Tuesday (Nov. 26) to fall to 1-4 overall.  WSU begins GLIAC play by hosting Davenport (Thursday) and Grand Valley State (Saturday).

Davenport comes in at 2-4 overall with both victories coming at home against non-NCAA opponents, Grace Christian (88-69) and Kuyper (104-63).  The Tigers and Cougars both compete as part of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).  As for the Panthers, they will be playing just their second road contest of the season when they visit the WSU Fieldhouse on Thursday.

Grand Valley State has won four of its first six games to open the season and those two losses came by a combined six points, both at home.  The Lakers fell 68-66 to Ashland on Nov. 10 and came up short against Hillsdale, 67-63, in their most recent outing on Nov. 27.  GVSU has played just two road contests, but was victorious in both, 85-76 at Lewis on Nov. 19 and 71-68 at Malone four days later.

THE SERIES
Wayne State and Davenport have split their 14 all-time match-ups and the home team has had the edge so far as the Warriors are 5-3 when facing the Panthers in Detroit.  WSU has won three of the last four overall against DU and four of the previous five at home.

Grand Valley State has won 17 more games than Wayne State in the all-time series (55-38) and has defeated the Warriors six times in the last nine meetings.  Most recently though, WSU beat GVSU in Detroit (2/8/24) for the first time in five years (2/1/19).  Wayne State is 22-26 at home vs. the Lakers.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The 2024-25 season marks campaign No. 17 at the helm for Davenport's veteran head coach Burt Paddock (346-166 overall, 57-75 GLIAC).  This year, Paddock's offense has been spearheaded by a pair of players in senior Jovan Tucker (14.8 PPG, 11th in GLIAC) and true freshman Matyas Vrabel (12.0 PPG).  Vrabel is also the team's leading rebounder with 8.0 per contest, good for fourth in the league, and is the only Panther to have started all six games.  Assist wise, senior Raishaun Brown and Tucker lead the way with 2.7 and 2.5 per contest, respectively.  Overall, DU has deployed 12 total players, 11 of which play more than 12 minutes per game.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Six games in, Grand Valley State has been able to do three things as well as any team in the country -- hit the glass, take care of the ball and shoot the long ball.  The Lakers are ninth in Division II in rebounding margin (+11.7), 14th in fewest turnovers per game (10.0) and 24th in three-point field goal percentage (.400).  Nationally, GVSU is also 20th in effective field goal percentage (.584), 33rd in scoring defense (66.5 PPG), 34th in scoring margin (+14.5/game), 36th in field goal percentage (.497), 38th in three-pointers made per game (10.0), 49th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.37), and 50th in bench points per game (30.8).

Led by third-year head coach Cornell Mann (38-29 overall, 22-14 GLIAC), the Lakers' offense has featured five scorers scoring at least nine points per contest.  Those five are Jalen Charity (11.7 PPG), Ethan Alderink (10.8), William Dunn (10.2), Kaden Brown (9.5) and Mason Docks (9.3).  No GVSU player outside of those five has started more than one game or averages more than 17.2 minutes played per outing.  Rebounding wise, five Lakers average four or more boards while Docks accounts for 5.3 assists per performance, tops in the league.

LAST TIME OUT - AT LEWIS - NOV. 26
After falling behind early 2-0, the Warriors tallied the next seven points on a driving lay-up by Ray Williams, Jr., a lay-up by Kelvin Tamakloe and a triple by Carmelo Harris.

The advantage for WSU was six (10-4) following a triple by Rob Lee, Jr.  However the host Flyers scored the next nine points before Jordan Briggs connected from beyond the arc to knot the game at 13-13 at the mid-point of the first half.

Lewis then went on a 17-4 spurt to lead by 13 (30-17), before Wayne State responded by scoring 10 of the next 12 points.  Leading WSU was Harris with a pair of free throws, Tamario Adley with a jumper and consecutive triples by Adam Ayrault and Lee, Jr.  LU scored the final three points before intermission to lead 35-27 at the break.

The Warriors were within eight (37-29) after a lay-up by Carlos Paul III, but the Flyers answered with nine of the next 10 points to extend their lead to 15 (46-31).

After trimming its deficit to 11 (46-35), WSU allowed the next seven points for an 18-point margin (53-35) with 12:50 remaining.

Wayne State kept battling and was within six (70-64) with just over four minutes left following a triple by Harris.  However, Lewis scored the next seven points and the Warriors were never closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Wayne State shot 44 percent (24-of-55) from the floor, compared to LU's 58 percent (29-of-50).  WSU connected on 10 triples in 26 attempts (39 percent), with the Flyers making 11-of-25 (44 percent) from beyond the arc.  The Warriors were 9-of-11 (82 percent) from the charity stripe, while Lewis shot 85 percent (17-of-20).  Wayne State held a slim 28-26 edge in rebounding, but the Flyers turned 13 Warrior turnovers into 20 points.

Lee, Jr. tallied a team-best 24 points, which included four triples, while Harris added 13 points.  Both Harris and Lee, Jr. dished out three assists, while Williams, Jr. had a team-high eight rebounds.  Williams, Jr. also became just the 23rd person in WSU men's basketball history to play 100 career games.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Despite a 1-4 record to start the season, Wayne State has shot the ball efficiently from both behind the arc and at the free throw line.  The Warriors rank 18th nationally in both free throw percentage (.795) and three point percentage (.413).  Individually, Rob Lee, Jr. is one of eight players in the country with a perfect percentage at the charity stripe thanks to 19 makes in his 19 attempts.  From long range, Carmelo Harris is 26th in Division II for three-point efficiency (.484) and 47th in three pointers made per game (3.0).  Harris is no slouch at the free throw line either converting 90 percent of his attempts (9-of-10) so far.

2024-25 BROADCAST CREWS
All men's basketball regular-season contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM), except the two non-Division 2 games (Dec. 11 vs. Michigan-Dearborn and Dec. 21 against Redeemer).  Fans can also stream the action online at PatriotDetroit.com.  This is the 23rd consecutive season WSU basketball has been aired on 1400 AM.  Kevin Brechmacher is in his ninth 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/Tartars.  

In addition, every 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, including the two aforementioned contests on Dec. 11 and Dec. 21.