Men's Basketball 12/31/2024 9:51:00 AM Cooper Weidenthaler, Sports Communications Specialist

Men's Basketball Restarts GLIAC Play On The Road

WSU will see a pair of ranked opponents in Lake Superior State and Ferris State.

DETROIT -- Following 11 days without a game, the Wayne State University men's basketball team (5-5 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) will jump back into league play with a pair of road games. The Warriors will travel to No. 14 Lake Superior State (10-2 , 1-1) on Thursday before facing No. 4 Ferris State (12-1, 2-0) two days later.

STORYLINES
Winner of three games in a row, Wayne State jumps back into GLIAC play for the remaining 18 contests of the regular season. The Warriors will start with arguably the toughest two of those 18, traveling to No. 14 Lake Superior State on Thursday before visiting fourth-ranked Ferris State on Saturday.

Lake Superior State has won three games in a row and eight of its last nine to go with a 4-0 record at home. The only defeat in those previous nine contests was at Ferris State, 83-81. The Lakers were outscored by eight, 46-38, in the second half in Big Rapids. Their only other loss this season was 77-70 to Lake Erie, also in Big Rapids.

Ferris State has won 12 straight games (7-0 at home) as its lone loss was at No. 3 West Texas A&M (79-65) in the 2024-25 season opener.

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series with Lake Superior State by 11, 48-37. The Warriors snapped a four-game skid against the Lakers winning 87-78 on March 6 in Sault Ste. Marie as part of the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals. Prior to that, WSU had lost four in a row on LSSU's floor.

Ferris State is on the right end of the all-time ledger against Wayne State, 57-41. The Bulldogs have had the Warriors' number as of late including seven straight and nine of the last 10. WSU has not win in Big Rapids since the 2011 GLIAC Championship Game triumph.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Led by 18th-year head coach Steve Hettinga, the veteran leader boasts a trio of scorers averaging double figures. Those three are Tyson Edmondson (16.8, fifth in the GLIAC), Kingsley Perkins (12.6) and Adam Harakow (11.3). Two different Lakers are bringing down nearly seven rebounds per game including Hunter Soper (6.8) and Perkins (6.6), who rank fourth and seventh in the league respectively. Running the offensive have been Nino Carter-Smith (3.8 APG) and Devin Womack (3.6 APG), who are third and tied-for-fourth in the conference respectively in dimes per outing.

Nationally, Lake Superior State is 13th in offensive rebounds per game (14.7), 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.55), 21st in assists per contest (18.0), 22nd in rebounding average (41.0), 25th in three-pointers attemped per outing (28.5), and 26th in triples made per game (10.1).

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Ferris State machine keeps on turning at 12-1 overall and 2-0 in the league under 12th-year head coach Andy Bronkema. This season, the Bulldogs are among the country's top 10 in several major statistical categories -- second in blocks per game (6.3), third in three-point field goal percentage defense (25.6), sixth in bench points per game (41.1), sixth in field goal percentage defense (38.0), sixth in scoring margin (+19.6), sixth in three-point percentage (41.0), and seventh in field goal percentage (51.4).

Individually, three Bulldogs are churning out at least 10 points per game including Ethan Erickson (18.2, third in the GLIAC), Nathan Claerbaut (10.4) and Tyler Hamilton (10.1). Claerbaut is on top of the rebounding department with 7.3 per contest (tied-for-third in league) while Jimmy Scholler averages a team-best 3.7 assists per effort (tied-for-third in conference).

LAST TIME OUT - VS. REDEEMER - DEC. 21
Wayne State scored 37 of the game's first 46 points, a run that elapsed nearly 12 minutes of game time. During that stretch, the home team shot 66.7 percent from the field (14-of-21), 41.7 percent from behind the arc (5-of-12) and was 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Seven different players contributed to the scoring featuring Rob Lee, Jr. at the top, who notched 11 of his 15 points in that span.

In that same stretch, Redeemer converted just four of its 18 field goal attempts (22.2 percent), including 1-of-9 from deep (11.1 percent), and turned the ball over three times.

From that point until the final first half buzzer, the scoring was much more balanced, but still saw the home team top its visitors by nine at 26-17. In those eight-plus minutes, Carlos Paul III was the ringleader for the Warriors with eight of his game-high 18 points.

Heading into the locker rooms, Wayne State enjoyed a 37-point advantage 63-26 and had shot 65.8 percent (25-of-38) to Redeemer's 32.3 percent (10-of-31) clip. The Warriors racked up 21 assists to just three turnovers in the contest's initial 20 minutes.

Out of the break, Wayne State increased its lead to as many as 47 on four different occasions -- 82-35, 94-47, 99-52 and 106-59. The closest Redeemer could get was 39 (65-26) right out of the intermission before the final margin of 41.

The Warriors tallied 43 points to the Royals 39 with 13 assists to 11 turnovers in the final 20 minutes. WSU handled RU 26-10 in the paint for that stanza and still managed to convert at 57.6 (19-of-33) percent from the floor.

Wayne State reached the century mark in points for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, a season in which it was accomplished twice. The Warriors defeated Marygrove 117-61 on Nov. 23 and Tiffin 102-72 on Jan. 20.

Seven Warriors scored 10 or more points, led by Paul III's 18. The other six included Lee, Jr.'s 15, Carmelo Harris with 14 and Adam Ayrault with 14 before three players with 10 each. That trio was Bryce Esman who tied his career high, Ray Williams, Jr. and Kareem Aburashed.

Harris also brought down seven rebounds (tied career best) to go with six assists (season high), while Jon Brantley added six assists (personal best) as well. Defensively, five Warriors blocked a shot attempt and Kelvin Tamakloe secured four steals for a new career high.

FREE THROW PHENOM
Wayne State junior Carmelo Harris continues to make free throws with a historic efficiency. This season, Harris ranks second in the GLIAC and 38th nationally in free throw percentage with a clip of 89.7 percent (26-of-29). Career wise, the Flint native is at 88.5 percent (138-of-156), which is first in program history (minimum 70 made) and seventh among all active Division II players. When factoring in all current NCAA basketball players from Divisions I, II and III, Harris' career clip is good for 29th.

2024-25 BROADCAST CREWS
All remaining men's basketball regular-season contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM). 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.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed: C; 6' 10"; Junior

#40 Adam Ayrault: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

#0 Jon Brantley: G; 6' 2"; Graduate Student

#21 Bryce Esman: F/C; 6' 8"; Junior

#11 Carmelo Harris: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#1 Carlos Paul III: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#12 Kelvin Tamakloe: F; 6' 6"; Junior

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Kareem Aburashed
: 6' 10"; Junior
: C

#40 Adam Ayrault
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#0 Jon Brantley
: 6' 2"; Graduate Student
: G

#21 Bryce Esman
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F/C

#11 Carmelo Harris
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#24 Rob Lee, Jr.
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Carlos Paul III
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#12 Kelvin Tamakloe
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F

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