DETROIT -- The Wayne State University men's basketball team (2-5 overall) will play the first of its final three non-conference games of the regular season on Wednesday night inside the Fieldhouse.  The Warriors will host the NAIA's Michigan-Dearborn (3-9 overall) of the WHAC with the opening tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

STORYLINES
Wayne State split its first two GLIAC games of the season winning 76-67 against Davenport on Thursday, before falling 65-63 to Grand Valley State on Saturday, both of which were in the Fieldhouse.  The Warriors now turn their attention to the final non-conference contests of the regular season, Dec. 11 vs. Michigan-Dearborn, Dec. 19 at Northwood and Dec. 21 against Redeemer.

Playing as a member of the NAIA's Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC), Michigan-Dearborn enters this week with an overall record of 3-9.  The Wolverines just snapped a three-game losing streak defeating Northwestern Ohio 91-86 on the road last Saturday.  UMD's two other wins were 74-67 against Kuyper on Nov. 9 and 83-75 at Concordia (Mich.) on Nov. 20.

THE SERIES
Wayne State has controlled the all-time series to the tune of 26-1, which includes a 20-0 mark in favor of the Warriors when playing in Detroit.  The two teams will be meeting for the first time since December of 2022 and just the second instance dating back to the beginning of the 2002-03 campaign.

GLIAC RECAP
As mentioned above, Wayne State went 1-1 to begin league play last week.  The Warriors opened their conference slate at home for the first time in over six years.  The most-recent instance came in 2018-19 when they defeated Ferris State 90-89 on Nov. 29 inside the Matthaei Center.  Last Thursday, WSU made it three consecutive wins in Detroit when playing DU.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
Coached by fourth-year man Domenic Policicchio III (16-82 overall), Michigan-Dearborn's offense boasts four scorers averaging at least 10 points per game in Jackson Reynolds (19.2 PPG), Joshua Warren (15.8 PPG), Elvis Machul, Jr. (13.8 PPG) and Jonathan Ammori (10.8 PPG).  With that being said, Machul, Jr. (hasn't played since Nov. 11) and Ammori have appeared in just four contests each.  After Ammori's 8.3 rebounds per game and Machul Jr.'s 5.0, UMD's top everyday man on the glass is Thomas Dillard IV with a 4.9 average.  Dillard IV, Reynolds, Zachary Cody and Alex Gillum have each played in all 12 games.  Reynolds is the only UMD player to have started all of them and is the squad's ringleader in assists with 3.8 per outing and 46 total to just 20 turnovers.

LAST TIME OUT - VS. GRAND VALLEY STATE - DEC. 7
The first field goal for either team didn't happen for nearly five minutes before Grand Valley State's Trevor Smith, Jr. made a jumper in the paint to give his team a 3-0 lead.

The first 37 total points and 13+ minutes of game time saw a combined four ties and three lead changes.  Adam Ayrault put Wayne State ahead 19-18 at the 6:41 juncture with the first of his four three-pointers and three of his game/career-high 16 points.

However, the Lakers' Trevon Gunter answered with a two-pointer of his own that gave the visitors' the advantage for good at 20-19.  GVSU pushed its lead to seven twice (26-19, 29-22) before WSU rattled off seven of the next nine points, five of which came from Ayrault, to pull within two, 31-29.

From there until the halftime buzzer, Grand Valley State notched five points to Wayne State's four and was up three (36-33) heading into the intermission.

Grand Valley State scored the second half's initial four points to make it a seven-point game again (40-33), but Wayne State churned out a 7-1 spurt and the margin was thinned to one (41-40).  Carmelo Harris accounted for four of those seven, while the other three came from Tamario Adley.

The seesaw battle continued as the Lakers scored nine of the ensuing 11 points to expand the margin back to a game-high eight (50-42), but the Warriors countered with a 13-6 outburst of their own.  That second stretch was capped off by Ayrault's final triple, and the home team was as close as one (56-55) with just over nine and a half minutes to go.

The deficit was as slim as one at 58-57 before the Lakers pushed it back to eight at 65-57.  WSU countered with the final six points as Harris, Ray Williams, Jr. and Adley each had a bucket.

Then, in WSU's final three possessions, Kareem Aburashed missed a three-point look, Adley turned it over and Ayrault missed a triple attempt as well.
Wayne State shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65) to Grand Valley State's 41.2 percent (21-of-51).  The Warriors cashed in nine of their 26 three-point attempts (34.6 percent) to the Lakers' eight triples in 16 looks (50 percent).  GVSU went 15-of-25 at the free throw line (60 percent) and WSU was just 4-of-10 (40 percent).  The home team won the rebounding battle by 10, 44-34, including 14-5 on the offensive glass.  

Grand Valley State racked up 15 assists to 10 turnovers while Wayne State notched 14 and 12, respectively.  Defensively, the Lakers totaled seven blocks and 11 steals to the Warriors' two and seven, respectively.  WSU dominated in second-chance points (22-4) and points in the paint (30-18), but GVSU had the upper hand in points off turnovers (17-9), bench scoring (38-28) and fast-break points (15-6).

Ayrault poured in a game-high 16 points as one of four Warriors in double figures along with Harris (12), Adley (12) and Carlos Paul III with 10.  Adley earned his second career double-double and first as a Warrior thanks to 10 rebounds, the only player for either squad with that many.  Lastly on offense, Adley and Jordan Briggs were each responsible for four assists.  Defensively, Aburashed registered both of Wayne State's blocks and Ayrault secured a pair of steals.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Despite a 2-5 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 33rd nationally in free throw percentage (.772) and  47th in three point percentage (.381).  Individually, Rob Lee, Jr. has yet to miss a free throw with a perfect percentage at the charity stripe thanks to 19 makes in his 19 attempts.  From long range, Carmelo Harris is 42nd in Division II for three-point efficiency (.439).  Harris is no slouch at the free throw line either converting 94.4 percent of his attempts (17-of-18) 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.